Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line is the film's hinge: everything Neo knew was a program, and a stranger in a hovercraft says it with a host's warmth. Cypher's sour echo later shows the other side, that reality is cold, hungry and hard. It has become the standard greeting for anyone leaving a comfortable illusion, from a first day at work to the end of a holiday.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The MatrixShow the scene
In The Matrix (1999), Neo takes the red pill and wakes in the real world, sealed in a machine pod and wired to cables, surrounded by rows of humans grown by machines. He is flushed out of the building and fished from the water by the hovercraft Nebuchadnezzar. As the crew hauls him aboard, Morpheus welcomes him to the real world, then turns to Trinity to say they have found him; when she says she hopes he is right, he answers that he does not have to hope, he knows it. Later in the film, the traitor Cypher throws the same line back bitterly after killing a crewmate. It was also a tagline for the film.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: The Matrix (film)Dialogue, Neo rescued by the Nebuchadnezzar; Cypher scene; TaglinesReference checked
- Wikipedia: The MatrixPlot, second paragraphReference checked
Context reviewed
