The Real Reason Matrix Resurrections Bombed (And What It Tells Us)

“Matrix 4 didn’t bomb because it was bad. It bombed because, being itself about self-hatred and nostalgia and the tyranny of screens, it was hated by self-hating nostalgic netizens. If Matrix 4 fails at anything, it’s in forgetting that self-haters never want to look in the mirror.”

Could it be that the premise for Matrix 4 was a little too close to home for its ideal movie fan? That’s the premise in this piece from WIRED culture critic Jason Kehe. In it, he talks about how the last installment in the series may shine an uncomfortable spotlight on all of our self-destructive behaviours that we would rather forget. We already live in a world where facts are irrelevant for some people and screen addiction is a true affliction. Fiction can be entertaining when it offers an imagined reality. When that reality is dystopian and truthful, the experience becomes uncomfortable. Especially when it’s depicted on screen in a movie.