Thomas Anderson's (Keanu Reeves) nightmare begins when he realises that his waking state is actually a computer-generated vision in this unique and exciting science-fiction thriller. Through Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne), the elusive leader of a rebellion that has been searching for him, Anderson discovers that his entire life is nothing but a software programme.

A band of renegades rescue him from this state and, believing him to be 'the one,' give him the tools to defeat the vast Matrix that has enslaved humanity.