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Parents' Guide to

A Glitch in the Matrix

By Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Mature, muddled docu about possible "artificial reality."

Movie NR 2021 108 minutes
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What's the Story?

In A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX, filmmaker Rodney Ascher explores the so-called "Simulation Theory," which argues that our entire reality is not actually real, and is possibly more like a video game -- or the movie The Matrix. The film begins with a 1977 lecture by sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, who began thinking about the idea after an experience with anesthetic and started incorporating it into his novels. Several believers (who appear as digital avatars) are interviewed, and then the movie tells the harrowing story of a rabid Matrix fan, Joshua Cooke, whose conviction that he was living in a simulation led to a horrific act.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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This haphazard documentary is centered around Philip K. Dick's fascinating lecture and leads up to a terrifying ending, but it's mostly pop culture references and unconvincing arguments. Dick's speech is worth hearing, because he's clearly in the midst of exploring new ideas/theories, but the modern-day interviewees in A Glitch in the Matrix are far more certain. For example, Professor Nick Bostrom, who published a famous 2003 essay, "Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?," has a thoughtful and complex hypothesis. But the movie spends barely any time on it.

The main interviewees seem like nice enough people, and they all seem to be movie and video game fans. And, interestingly, most have some kind of faith-based background. They tell stories about how they started to detect patterns and coincidences that convinced them of an artificial reality. But Ascher's choice to disguise them as avatars seems like something of a joke or a tease. The documentary's constant use of movie and video game clips also suggests that it's in a slightly less than serious mood. But then it comes to its final stretch, and it's not funny anymore. That's when it addresses the story of Joshua Cooke, who was obsessed with The Matrix, believed he was living in an artificial reality, and subsequently killed his parents (he confesses that he was surprised when they didn't die like video game characters). Ultimately, A Glitch in the Matrix not only fails to convince viewers of its argument, but it doesn't really seem to know what it wants to say at all.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in A Glitch in the Matrix. How are the murders presented? Are they any less shocking because they're being described at a remove/from a distance?

  • How is drinking depicted in the movie? Is drinking glamorized? Were there consequences? Why does that matter?

  • Whether or not you agree with the movie's theories, what do you think might the advantages be of living in a simulated world? The disadvantages?

  • Is it a documentary's job to persuade viewers with its argument? If so, how well does this one do that job?

Movie Details

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