In this guide, we’ll show you how to watch The Matrix franchise in order and show you where you can watch them on popular streaming services in the United States. We’ll also let you know if there are options to stream The Matrix movies legally for free.
In 1999, The Matrix became an overnight sensation when the directorial duo Lana and Lilly Wachowski unveiled their kung fu science fiction classic to the world. Starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity and Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, this groundbreaking movie grossed $460 million worldwide at the box office on a $63 million budget. This marked the beginning of an ongoing blockbuster franchise that is still beloved by fans today.
The Matrix franchise now includes a trilogy (The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions), an anthology of anime short films (The Animatrix) and a soft meta-reboot (The Matrix Resurrections). There are also tentative plans for an upcoming fifth installment by Warner Bros. Whether you’re watching The Matrix for the first time or rewatching the classic sci-fi franchise, this guide shows you where to watch them all online and the different viewing orders (release vs chronological).
How to watch The Matrix movies in order
If you only want to watch The Matrix feature-length movies, you can watch them chronologically in exactly the same way they were released.
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The Matrix (1999)
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The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
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The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
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The Matrix: Resurrections (2021)
This is a great viewing order if you are new to the franchise and want to enjoy the main storyline without getting overwhelmed by the franchise’s expanded universe of short films and canonical video games. However, the Wachowskis and Warner Bros. have always been ambitious when expanding The Matrix as a multimedia franchise. They have released several canonical stories in video games (Enter the Matrix, The Matrix Online and Path of Neo) and The Animatrix. In particular, The Animatrix offers some of the franchise’s best storylines that you won’t want to miss. So, if you’re ready to ‘take the red pill’ and go deeper, here’s how to watch the franchise in its entirety.
How to watch entire The Matrix franchise in chronological order
While watching the Matrix movies in order isn’t too complicated, this becomes more difficult if you want to watch the entire story unfold in every movie, short film and video game. Technically, The Matrix video games Enter the Matrix, The Path of Neo and The Matrix Online are all canonical, so we’ve included these in our complete Matrix timeline. Similarly, the short films included in The Animatrix anthology take place at various times throughout the story.
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The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance, Part I and II
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The Animatrix: A Detective Story
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The Matrix
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The Animatrix: Kid's Story
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The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris
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Enter the Matrix – Video game
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The Matrix Reloaded
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The Matrix Revolutions
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The Matrix: Path of Neo – Video game
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The Matrix Online: The Matrix Online – Video game
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The Animatrix: Beyond
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The Matrix: Resurrections
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The Animatrix: World Record – Exact timeframe unknown
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The Animatrix: Matriculated – Exact timeframe unknown
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The Animatrix: Program – Exact timeframe unknown
The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance, Part I and II takes place during the human/machine war in the mid-21st century. According to Morpheus’ estimations, everything from The Animatrix: A Detective Story until The Animatrix: Beyond then takes place circa 2199. The Matrix: Resurrections picks up the story 18 years later. Three Animatrix shorts have no discernable timeframe, so the best option is to watch those last.
The Matrix documentaries
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The Matrix Revisited (2001)
Another important release for Matrix completists is The Matrix Revisited. This 2001 documentary shows the making of the first movie in 1999, revealing how many of the stunts were performed and explaining the movie’s revolutionary CGI techniques.
Where can I watch The Matrix movies in release order?
Below you can find the latest streaming information for every Matrix movie. You can check each movie’s availability on streaming services and find out if they are available online.
