What if we are living in a simulation, and the world as we know it is not real? To tackle this mind-bending idea, acclaimed filmmaker Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237, THE NIGHTMARE) uses a noted speech from Philip K. Dick to dive down the rabbit hole of science, philosophy, and conspiracy theory. Leaving no stone unturned in exploring the unprovable, the film uses contemporary cultural touchstones like THE MATRIX, interviews with real people shrouded in digital avatars, and a wide array of voices, expert and amateur alike. If simulation theory is not science fiction but fact, and life is a video game being played by some unknowable entity, then who are we, really? A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX attempts to find out.

Ascher’s film focuses on the belief — fervently held by some — that our world is just a computer simulation à la The Matrix. Matching ethos and aesthetics, his interviews were all done via computer, with his subjects usually presenting themselves as fanciful, video-game-style avatars. Aside from pre-existing film and news clips (of which there are admittedly many), the movie doesn’t seem to have any “real life” footage. Luckily for us, both life and the movie are real, and A Glitch in the Matrix, for all its digital constraints, is deliriously alive and expansive as well as riveting
Bilge Ebiri
Vulture