Before the release of the Star Wars prequel, the hottest hit in the US this year was The Matrix, a state-of-the-art special effects extravaganza written and directed by brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, whose only previous film was the moody, lesbian-themed film noir, Bound.
Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a young man tormented by the meaning of The Matrix, with Carrie Anne-Moss as the woman who leads him into the underworld to meet the elusive and dangerous Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). Explaining the movie's genesis, the Wachowskis say: "We began with the premise that every single thing we believe in today and every single physical item is actually a total fabrication created by an electronic universe."