In The Matrix, Neo sees a glitch as a black cat appearing and behaving in the same place twice consecutively. These scenes are much less gory in The Matrix but it is almost bizarre how many similarities these movies share.īoth movies have a moment where the main character sees evidence that they are not in reality. These tubes are also very similar to the game pod ports and umbycords in eXistenZ. In one scene, there is an extraction of a tracking robotic bug device from Neo’s body and in the scene where Neo wakes up from the Matrix, he wakes in a vat of slime with tubes protruding from the back of his head and down his spine. The Matrix has body horror elements itself. The Matrix is still justly considered to be one of the best sci-fi films of all time and its upcoming fourth installment is one of the most highly anticipated films of this year. In the world of this movie, video game consoles are living pulsating flesh “pods” made from amphibian organs. People interact with them by flipping a part on them that looks like a nipple and they are connected to a user by inserting a cord called an “umbycord” into a port in their lower spine. The body horror elements in eXistenZ are toned down in comparison to most of Cronenberg’s movies but may still be shocking to some more squeamish people today.
The Fly may be Cronenberg’s most mainstream movie while Videodrome may be his biggest cult movie, and both fall under this genre. Ususally, these stories involve plots that revolve around an elevated use of physical mutilation and deformities. This genre has origins in gothic horror fiction and also applies to a subsection of anime, like the classic Akira. RELATED: Will Matrix 4 Be the Launch of a New Trilogy?ĭavid Cronenberg, the director of eXistenZ, is largely known for working in the body horror genre. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, a nostalgic trip involving a boy’s life in a virtual reality game was released in 2018 and a future movie installment based on the bestselling novel sequel to the source material is in the early stages.
WandaVision is one of the most popular shows currently and deals with the Scarlet Witch living in a fantasy tv show reality that she is in some way responsible for creating. Season four of HBO’s Westworld, a show about people and robots living in a futuristic amusement park that is indiscernible from reality is on the horizon. Over two decades after the release of these movies, stories about living in a simulation are everywhere. The fact that this movie was released one month after the beloved movie The Matrix, which it shares themes with, may have resulted in the movie not receiving the attention it deserves.
EXistenZ raises questions about reality in a unique way as the greatest Sci-Fi films do.