Prime Video’s 8-Part Sci-Fi Thriller Is Everything The Matrix 4 Should Have Been

Not every successful movie demands a sequel, and someone should have told that to Warner Bros. after The Matrix became a generational hit in 1999. Neither The Matrix Reloaded nor The Matrix Revolutions could live up to the original, with returns rapidly diminishing as the trilogy continued. After a long break, The Matrix Resurrections was supposed to be the franchise’s moment of redemption. A fresh, modern angle where seasoned familiar faces would rub shoulders alongside exciting newcomers, The Matrix‘s fourth entry had two entire decades of digital advancement to draw inspiration from.

Ultimately, The Matrix Resurrections proved yet another underwhelming follow-up to the original. Credit is due for pursuing a devilishly meta path, but the quad-quel pushed its luck too far, its cynical subtext more self-defeating than insightful. Alongside a plot that made very little sense, The Matrix Resurrections provided yet another reason the IP’s expansion should have been limited to animation, video games, and comics.

For those pondering what a fourth Matrix movie might’ve been with superior execution, look no further than Prime Video’s short-lived adaptation of a novel by William Gibson.

Like the book it’s based on, Prime Video’s The Peripheral takes place within two distinct worlds. There’s the recognizable near-future timeline of 2032, which is slowly succumbing to environmental doom and the increasing threat of warfare, and there’s the sleek, futuristic timeline circa 2099, filled with fantastical technology and larger-than-life characters. These parallel settings mirror The Matrix‘s digital world and real world. One is familiar, one is not. One is worn down and real, one is prettier but fake.

Chloë Grace Moretz‘s Flynne Fisher essentially acts as The Peripheral‘s answer to Neo. She, alongside a select few friends, can plug into a fancy gadget that allows them to control an avatar in 2099, despite their unconscious bodies remaining hooked up to the tech in 2032. Making this transition grants Flynne the ability to wield powers and skills her real self never could, effectively turning her into a superhero. The Peripheral doesn’t quite call her “The One,” but the implication is there.

Just as the heart of The Matrix is an apocalyptic scenario in which the Machines all but wipe out humanity, the core predicament driving The Peripheral is the Jackpot, an equally devastating event that leaves Earth’s natural population on the brink of collapse. Neo’s mission is to save what’s left of his species. Flynne has the same goal, but also seeks to avert her own timeline barreling toward a dystopian outcome.

The Peripheral Does The Exact Thing The Matrix 4 Should Have

The Analyst wearing blue glasses in The Matrix Resurrections. — The Analyst wearing blue glasses in The Matrix Resurrections

As disappointing as the film was overall, The Matrix Revolutions‘ ending posed an intriguing question. After Neo’s victory, what would the future look like? With the Machines entering a truce with humanity and the Matrix itself no longer a digital prison, how would the two worlds coexist? One of the sequel’s biggest disappointments was avoiding that question entirely by replaying the 1999 film’s plot over again. Another evil program arises, humans are plugged back into the Matrix, Neo and Trinity free them, etc.

One of The Peripheral‘s strengths is how it blurs the lines between its two time periods. Both are fundamentally real, and they’re bleeding into each other as messages and technology cross temporal borders. Meanwhile, Flynne’s new interests in the future begin to overtake her priorities in the present, creating a moral and emotional quandary over the meaning of consciousness and existence.

The Matrix trilogy’s ending gave Resurrections an opportunity to explore themes similar to The Peripheral. A world where humans were choosing the Matrix, not chained to it. Perhaps even an existential struggle between the real world and the digital Matrix, where Neo is forced to fight for both instead of just using the Matrix as a battleground to save the real world from another piece of sinister software.