"Sleep. Now."

Dark City (1998), directed by Alex Proyas

In 1998, the year before the Wachowski brother's released The Matrix, Alex Proyas' Dark City appeared in theaters presenting a dystopian world of a slightly different ilk. Whereas in The Matrix Neo exits the world and perceives the truth in the first forty minutes of the film, in Dark City John Murdock (Rufus Sewell) awakens with questions about his environment right at the outset, and his process of self-discovery takes place throughout the course of the film. There's no questioning here about "the prophecy" and being "the One". The confidante in this case is no Oracle, but a rather strange psychiatrist (played maniacally by Kiefer Sutherland) who walks around holding secrets, mixing potions, and sticking needles into people's foreheads. There are no agents. (No, not in the way that there is no spoon...). Instead of agents, there are dark figures called The Strangers. The sunless city the people live in is the Stranger's handiwork. Their motive, however, resides much deeper, than using humans as batteries. They intend to use the city as an experiment to find out what makes humans tick. What drives them. What inspires their choices.

Unlike the more popular Matrix series, however, Dark City dives into questions that deal with love, the soul, choice, memory, and the well-being of mankind in a manner that is derived naturally out of the plot and world created. Visually, Dark City has a much darker and more contorted perspective on it's environment. The community feels a bit more like a set than a virtual reality computer program. Watch the film and you'll find out why. It's less flashy, but more developed. By the way, if you've seen Requiem for a Dream, then there is one particular visual you will likely recognize towards the end of the film. Darren Aronofsky must have been inspired by Jennifer Connelly's performance in Dark City before casting her for his own film. Make sure to be prepared to enter into a dark world when you watch it. If you have already seen this film, your mind is likely already made up about whether you like it or not. If you have not yet seen it, it's worth a good rental for the simple reality that Dark City goes deeper than the adventures of Neo and Company.