When Does "The Matrix Resurrections" (2021) Take Place?
"The Matrix Resurrections" is a science fiction film written by Lana Wachowski with David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon that released December 22nd, 2021. So when is "The Matrix Resurrections" set?
It takes place on the fictional The Matrix timeline roughly in the years:
We know this because Bugs tells Thomas Anderson/Neo "It's been over 60 years since"... and then described the events from the end of the previous film, “The Matrix Revolutions” (2003), which takes place in ~2700 AD.
~2760s AD
We know this because Bugs tells Thomas Anderson/Neo "It's been over 60 years since"... and then described the events from the end of the previous film, “The Matrix Revolutions” (2003), which takes place in ~2700 AD.
~2700 + ~60 = ~2760.
The timeline of the Matrix Universe is fairly unique among the largest franchises because the human characters within its fictional world (diegesis) do not themselves know what year it truly is for the duration of most of the stories. Just before Bugs' line, Neo asks, "20 years. Why did it take 20 years to find me?" An award statue in Thomas Anderson's office reads "THE GAME AWARDS 1999 GAME OF THE YEAR THE MATRIX DEUS MACHINA" on the pedestal. 1999 AD is also the fake setting of the digital world within the first three "The Matrix" movies.
1999 + 20 = 2019.
Things appear to be contemporaneous with the making of the work but this timeframe clearly only applies to time for Neo and other characters living within the Matrix who accept the false narrative they are presented: that it is still the early 21st century. In the video game "The Matrix Online" (2005), Tic Tock explains that the calendars and clocks within the previous version of the Matrix are [or maybe previous to the events of the third film, "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003) were] periodically reset. This new Matrix is either on a different loop or a longer one, as 60+ years have passed in the real world while only 20 seem to have within the Matrix, making it appear to be ~2019 AD.
It is the fourth chronological film in The Matrix Universe timeline. It can be watched at its timeline point. [Expanded elements enrich the experience: it can be watched after “Matriculated” (2003).]
