How to Watch the Matrix Movies in Order

How many times have you looked through your window and wondered if there's any possibility that the world you live in is just in your mind? Any number at all puts you squarely in the Matrix club, where Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) explore the reality that what they believed was real was, in fact, not. These Matrix movies have fascinated watchers since their release, and there's no better time than the present to binge through the whole series.

How to Watch the Matrix Movies in Release Order

If you're only tangentially familiar with the Matrix movies, then you probably are wondering, what more is there to know. Truth is, just like with the Matrix, there's more than meets the eye. That's because The Matrix Trilogy is actually just the tip of the iceberg.

Though these three movies—The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions—were released in chronological order, the Wachowskis, who are responsible for writing and directing the films, also created nine additional animated films which fall under the series The Animatrix, and are part of the Matrix story.

Knowing this, when you're ready to binge on The Matrix movies, you should first watch The Matrix Trilogy and then go back and watch The Animatrix movies and The Matrix movies in chronological order.

How to Watch the Matrix Movies in Chronological Order

Once you've seen the original three movies in The Matrix Trilogy then you can go back and watch the whole series, including the animated shorts, from beginning to end to gain more context and insight into the films. Here's how to watch all those movies—both The Matrix Trilogy and The Animatrix movies—in chronological order.