Visually dazzling adventure in cyberspace. A mild-mannered computer programmer (Keanu Reeves) by day becomes a fearsome hacker called Neo by night. He's recruited by a cell of cyber-rebels led by the inscrutable overlord Morpheus, played by Fishburne. They discover that human consciousness is actually virtual reality, a false universe intended to lull humans into blind obedience to the "system." Human being's life essence is required to fuel the Matrix's drive to dominate the "real" world. Morpheus and company wage a war to overthrow the Matrix.