‘The Matrix is everywhere’: cinema bets on immersion
In a groundbreaking shift for cinema, Los Angeles is now home to an immersive movie experience that puts the viewer inside the film. Imagine this: Neo, dressed in his iconic trench coat, bends backward to dodge a hail of bullets. They spiral above your head while gunfire echoes from all directions — and you’re not just watching it on a screen. You’re living it.
This revolutionary immersive movie experience is being brought to life by Cosm, which has opened specialized venues in both Los Angeles and Dallas. Launching in June, their latest project features a “shared reality” version of the iconic 1999 film The Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves as the reality-questioning Neo.
According to Cosm president Jeb Terry, the goal is to reshape how people experience cinema. “We believe the future will be more immersive and more experiential,” he said during a preview screening. “It’s trying to create an additive, a new experience, ideally non-cannibalistic, so that the industry can continue to thrive across all formats.”
Cinema attendance has been on the decline, a trend worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of streaming platforms and increasingly sophisticated home entertainment systems, theaters are searching for ways to offer something truly unique. That’s where the immersive movie experience comes in.
Blockbusters like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Oppenheimer have been attracting audiences to IMAX theaters, with their giant screens and top-tier film quality. But Cosm wants to go beyond that. By working with designers from Cirque du Soleil, they’ve created an environment that places viewers directly inside the story.
Jay Rinsky, founder of creative studio Little Cinema, specializes in such immersive movie experiences. He describes it as crafting theatrical sets — like a Parisian opera — and allowing the movie to take center stage. “We follow the tone, highlight the emotions… through light, production design, and 3D environments,” Rinsky explained.
He also noted that The Matrix is especially well-suited for this treatment. “It’s a masterpiece of cinema, but done as a rectangle,” he said. Now, it’s being reimagined in a dome format that envelops the audience in all directions.
For those unfamiliar, The Matrix follows Neo, a computer hacker who begins to question his reality. Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus offers him a choice: a blue pill to remain in his artificial life or a red pill to awaken to the harsh truth that he’s a captive of intelligent machines. What follows is a genre-defining blend of action, martial arts, mysticism, and romance, particularly between Neo and Trinity, played by Carrie-Anne Moss.
This immersive movie experience kicks off in style — attendees are greeted with a choice of red or blue cocktails. Once inside, they are surrounded by HD screens that shift perspectives in real-time. One moment, you’re in Neo’s claustrophobic office cubicle. Next, you’re dodging an oncoming truck from above.
“They’re sometimes inside the character’s head,” said Rinsky. “The world changes as you look up and down.”
At the preview screening, reactions were overwhelmingly positive. Influencer Vince Rossi told AFP, “It just did feel like an experience. It felt like you’re at a theme park for a movie almost.”
The introduction of immersive movie experiences like this one could be exactly what the film industry needs. As traditional formats compete with at-home entertainment, shared reality could become the next big evolution in how stories are told.
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By turning films into interactive environments, Cosm is helping redefine what it means to go to the movies. It’s no longer just about watching — it’s about experiencing. And with The Matrix as the launchpad, this new form of immersive movie experience is poised to captivate audiences in a whole new way.
