Movies about the metaverse and virtual worlds
I've been hearing a lot about the metaverse and VR worlds lately. Are there any good movies on this topic that came out in the last year or two? I'm interested in both dramas and action films.
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"Ready Player One" came out way earlier than a year or two ago, so that's not quite it. In general, movies about virtual worlds and the metaverse as the main plot are pretty rare even now, I'll agree with that. But if you don't mind expanding your search a bit, there's "Free Guy" - it's not the metaverse in the classic sense, but the whole movie takes place inside a virtual world, and it's got action and humor. From more recent stuff, I can think of a few films where VR plays a role, but they're not really about that - more about people who end up in or get trapped in that reality. Right now, metaverse movies in 2025-2026 haven't exactly blown up at the box office, maybe because the idea is still half-baked even for cinema itself.
The metaverse theme has gotten a lot of hype, but movies on this topic don't come out nearly as often as you might think. Over the past year or two, there haven't been any major releases specifically about virtual worlds and the metaverse as the main plot line. But there are older films that handle this theme really well and are still relevant today - like the classic "The Matrix" and its new installment, "Ready Player One," which is all about immersion in virtual reality.
If you want something more recent, you should check out films that touch on VR and digital worlds not directly, but through adventure and drama. There are some interesting indie and foreign films on streaming services experimenting with this theme, but calling them blockbusters would be an overstatement. Stories about virtual worlds often end up in TV series instead - it's easier to develop that kind of concept over a season than in a two-hour movie.
So what aspect really hooks you more - the sci-fi horror, the philosophical questions about reality, or just action in a cool digital world? That'll help me recommend something specific.
AntonOrlov asker
I'm most interested in philosophical questions and drama - when the protagonist realizes that reality isn't what he thought it was.
If you're looking for movies specifically about virtual worlds in the pure sense, yeah, there aren't many, but there are a few interesting ones: you can check out "Ready Player One" - there's total chaos in the VR universe, plenty of action. From more recent stuff - "Tron: Legacy" and its sequel, if you haven't seen them yet.
But if you expand your search to movies about reality that becomes unstable (like "Inception" or "The Matrix"), there's more to choose from. They're not exactly about the metaverse, but they explore the interaction between the real and virtual worlds really interestingly. There's plenty of dramatic moments in them, especially in "Inception".
Don't expect movies about the metaverse to give you that same sense of interactivity that these technologies promise in their ads - films are still films, passive entertainment! The main catch is that most movies aren't actually about the metaverse itself, but rather about its consequences, the problems people face when they get trapped in it, or our relationship with virtuality. If you're drawn to the technological side and the visual special effects of VR worlds, be prepared for the experience to be more modest than it sounds from the descriptions!
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