The Best Movie to Watch After *VisionQuest* on Disney+
If you loved *VisionQuest* on Disney+, *The Matrix* is the perfect follow-up. Both explore AI sentience, identity, and the nature of existence.
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Jonathan Sayer, Emily Hampshire, Paul Bettany, and Henry Lewis in “VisionQuest” — Credit: Courtesy of Disney+
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Marvel’s forays into television have had varying success, but they hit gold with WandaVision and Agatha All Along, leaning into real pathos while exploring the kind of out-there ideas that thrill comic book fans (and set up the larger film arcs). That streak continues with VisionQuest, in which White Vision (Paul Bettany) struggles to understand his existence in the wake of his death at the hands of Thanos and resurrection at the magic of the Scarlet Witch, while also evading evil androids and assassins, while also dealing with the many, many AIs he’s got locked up in his Mindspace (including a gloriously shabby version of Ultron, played by James Spader).
If you love the show (and you’ve checked out the other series that play in the same sandbox), it’s time to switch gears and watch (or re-watch) The Matrix.
Why The Matrix Is the Best Movie to Watch After VisionQuest
The Matrix is one of the most well-known sci-fi films of all time, of course, but it remains incredibly fresh and exciting nearly thirty years after its release. Along with sequels The Matrix: Reloaded, The Matrix: Revolutions, and The Matrix: Resurrections, the Matrix universe offers a story that VisionQuest fans will love — one that includes lushly imagined virtual worlds, questions surrounding existence and consciousness, and the ultimate question of our responsibility as sentient beings (whether we’re organic, programmed, or summoned via magic).
You know the basics — at some point in the future, artificially intelligent machines rebel against their creators, win the war, and transform humans into a power source, keeping them docile by inserting their consciousness into a virtual world called the Matrix, which resembles 1990s Chicago. One such human, Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is prophesied to be The One, the human who will turn the Matrix against its makers and free humanity. When he’s in the virtual world, Anderson is Neo, and he slowly gains incredible powers as he learns to hack the artificial environment around him.
It’s heavier, denser, and more action-oriented than VisionQuest (the film invented Bullet Time, after all), but The Matrix and its sequels explore similar themes and offer similarly eye-popping visuals. The questions of whether a machine (or an artificial intelligence) can be sentient and truly care about the entities around it are the same, really, and the Agents that Neo and his allies have to battle against in The Matrix bring the same kind of menace as Vision’s foes Jocasta (T’Nia Miller) and the Paladin (Todd Stashwick). Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith likewise delivers the same vibe of cold, disinterested superiority as Spader’s Ultron.
The Matrix has a bigger budget and puts a lot of it into spectacular action and special effects sequences that VisionQuest can’t quite match. But the two narratives share an exploration of identity, a questioning of reality, and the nature of artificial intelligences within a smart sci-fi setting. In short, The Matrix is the ideal follow-up when you finish the series. Rent The Matrix on Prime Video.
More Movies Like VisionQuest
Need more films that explore virtual worlds, artificial beings, and deep existential questions? Here are some more movies that fit the bill.
Her (2013)
Heavy on the existential questions about sentience and light on speculative action, Her is a mumblecore sci-fi masterpiece. In a near future not too dissimilar from our present, Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely man on the cusp of divorce who begins using (and training) an AI he names Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Samantha has the ability to evolve and grow, and as their relationship deepens, she becomes more complex, independent, and powerful, eventually evolving into something wholly new. Just like Vision, Samantha is a sentient artificial entity figuring out its existence while we watch. Rent Her on Prime Video.