Top 10 Simulated Reality Movies and Shows

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These mind-bending fictional universes will destroy your concept of reality. For this list, we’ll be going over the films and television series featuring characters discovering or experiencing an artificial reality. Our countdown includes "Inception", "The Matrix", “WandaVision”, and more! If there’s a simulated piece of media that you love to see in your reality, tell us about it in the comments!
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#Film
#Sci-Fi
#WandaVision

[@WatchMojo]

Check out our featured song: "I'm A Man Now" by Moon Landscape! kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2jUdpptmd-Uh5Y What's your favorite simulated reality? ...Are you living in one right now???!

[@brawlstarpplayerguy6836]

Ok

[@boots7532]

I’m early

[@scar2871]

The Truman Show

[@alexh2217]

How can we be living in one right now?

[@jetaabazagallozhani7514]

Inseption

[@mr.decencykeepinitreal6348]

1999's 'The Matrix' is still one of the best damn science fiction movies of all time . We can't wait to see the 4th movie in the future.

[@TheLastGuardian30]

I literally saw it yesterday for the first time and it blew my freaking mind!!! Watching Reloaded rn

[@TheLastGuardian30]

@The Ghey Mantis I had a long list of movie franchises I was completing since 2020 and yeah I didn't think of watching the Matrix before last month. After hearing how great it is, finally found time to watch it yesterday (finished Reloaded too, will watch Revolutions soon)

[@joshuabroyles7565]

What we need is a prequel: "In Soviet Matrix, spoon does not believe in YOU!"

[@sid.469]

Dark city was better

[@joshuabroyles7565]

@@sid.469 Dark City was rushed. Viewers weren't allowed to experience a long enough period of confusion at the beginning. The antagonists were also flat characters and their motivation was merely a projection of human motivation. If humans had created them, that would make some sense, but that's not how it was explained.

[@mr.decencykeepinitreal6348]

The original 'Total Recall' was pretty impressive back in 1990.

[@Rodeo_Wizard]

Yes I agree. The 2012 remake is total trash and pure horse poop. 💩

[@WitchyWhale]

@@Rodeo_Wizard I've honestly forgot they even remade that movie.

[@miracleshappen4483]

I 've seen it at least 5 times, in my opinion is a masterpiece!

[@henri191]

I loved "The Truman" , Jim Carrey was great

[@debanjanabanerjee8422]

It's 'The Truman Show'

[@itsAurora-zq8cb]

Me too and I don't really watch Jim Carey

[@dulcespinelli]

You forgot to mention "The Thirteenth Floor", which, because it was released in the same year as "The Matrix", was completely overshadowed by it, but it is an amazing movie!!!

[@VOAxInsanity]

*The fact that Paprika isn't on this list surprises me, especially since Inception borrowed some scenes from it.*

[@sid.469]

Ya

[@lestat2558]

Inception is a copycat not borrowed, it's more like "stealing"

[@mr.decencykeepinitreal6348]

2018's 'Ready Player One' made over 500 million globally, Steven Spielberg and everyone did a great job together.

[@Frumpysoup]

It was my favorite movie. I think they've could predict the future.

[@linn4965]

YAAS BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR VIDEO

[@ThePlake0815]

13th floor should also be on that list, but for the rest: awesome video that brought back memories of good movies! =D

[@henri191]

Obviously "Wandavision" should be here

[@henri191]

"The matrix" oh yeah , the best one

[@mr.decencykeepinitreal6348]

'Wandavision' is pretty good. Can't wait to see what's next in the future.

[@jessetorres8738]

I know it's up to interpretation, but I think that Leo was awake at the end of Inception. In every other scene where he saw his kids, he didn't see their faces, but in the final scene he actually sees their faces, and they are wearing slightly different clothes compared to previous scenes. Additionally, someone once pointed out how Leo actually has 2 ways to see if he's awake or not-his top and his wedding ring-and they explained that if you watch him check his wedding ring to know when he's awake.

[@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom]

The reason he didn't see his kids' faces in the other scenes is because he didn't want to. But yeah, he's awake at the end.

[@willhuey4891]

i interpreted that dom was still dreaming because the top was still spinning.

[@hubster316]

I read that Michael Caine was confused by what was and was not a dream, so Christopher Nolan told him that anytime he is being filmed, he can be assured it’s not a dream, so, since caines character is in the final scene, we can assume that Dom was awake at the end.....

[@Clewin31]

It's also said in the movie that your totem is strictly personal and only yours. The top was his wife's, so his true totem must be the wedding ring.

[@MoonSpeaksTV]

Inception is such a classic ❤️

[@michaelbullock8011]

Great video and I enjoyed it and have a blessed day

[@ArchKnightGamingRealm]

For the first time i actually agree with THIS Top 10 list! Good choice of arrangement, too!

[@Fierysaint1]

Hellraiser Inferno (part 5). He gradually ends up in Hell, but you never know when he actually entered it. In the end? When he shot himself? In the beginning? When he opened the box? Still don't know, but it was a terrifying movie concept. When is one actually in Hell?

[@Fierysaint1]

@The Ghey Mantis 100% agree. Yeah the others were so cheesy, but part 5 was so different. It's like it didn't even belong with the franchise. Good story, good acting, genius writing, dark and serious tone, and the only scary movie I've watched that actually fucked with my head. Makes one question what conscience is and how our minds really work, especially when it's in a dark place and when your world is (for lack of a better phrase) going to Hell.

[@Fierysaint1]

@The Ghey Mantis Haven't seen that one but I'm optimistic in your judgement seeing you respect Inferno the most like me so I'll look in to it. The last two I'm hesitant to watch because Bradley refused to play in them for good reasons.

[@rashardmitchell7915]

How could they forget about The Thirteenth Floor....thats should be definitely on the list....also they should add Bliss....& Peripheral.

[@nekinovkanal2819]

No mention of 13th floor??????? Its a hole life-simulation?????

[@kchgamer1788]

Can’t wait for upload to get another season. Atleast I’ve gotta hope it gets one! Also the Truman show is one of my favorite movies of all time, and is by far one of Carry’s best performances.

[@leonkanyi9904]

Upload was so good . It is really underrated

[@zvimur]

About the same time As "The Matrix" and "Dark city" there was "The Thirteenth Floor". Also, Star trek TNG, DS( and Voyager: all the Holodeck episodes.

[@zvimur]

PS, DS9 not DS( Was holding Shift ket. Sorry.

[@jeffthompson9622]

I greatly enjoyed "The Thirteenth Floor," and was disappointed that it wasn't mentioned.

[@justapeacefulmanwhosbornin7291]

'The Matrix.' 'Inception.' 1990's 'Total Recall.' 'Ready Player One.' 🙂👏👏👏👏👏

[@japtui]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! Not exactly "simulated reality", but definitely in the same league as Inception

[@boomgraffiti6134]

0:19 the winking girl meme 😂😂😂😂

[@dilanachinthadissanayake2641]

This is what I need right now

[@davidschlienz9757]

Inception confused me the most. I eventually figured it inside out.

[@aarongilmore1254]

Somewhere in time is a hypnotic state that he lives in, The Game is where someone's real reality is altered on purpose and almost drives him insane... Pan's labyrinth and November deal with alternate realities while people are dying. So there are 4 other grate movies to consider

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

👍

[@rijubhatt8366]

Hi Rebecca, a nice list for the imaginatively inclined. ❤🌹🙏

[@Sofia-qn6fs]

Love your picks watchmojo

[@thejmelus]

Tbh, the Matrix is probably the ultimate nightmare scenario. Matrix machines make Skynet look like a Chiuahua.

[@limesquared]

Not quite simulated reality but enough to make you question it-Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My favorites are the Matrix and Inception. Just finished 1899 and now watching The Peripheral...

[@jasonc3654]

I literally stopped this video and started watching UPLOAD, SOOO GOOD!!

[@animusswtor4822]

If you include black mirror for having some virtual reality episodes in the honorable mentions you could’ve also included Agents of shield‘s season 4 arc agents of hydra cuz that one is fricking amazing

[@pingidjit]

As well as Star Trek: Voyager for all their holodeck gone wrong episodes.

[@Magz66ify]

and Doctor Who, Eureka, Buffy, Stargate SG-1, just to name a few.

[@littlepurplepanda1]

There was a She-Ra episode too

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

So true!

[@CodyFairlessLee]

I like TRON, THE TRUMAN SHOW, and the honorable mention of READY PLAYER ONE and I love INCEPTION!

[@andreyandibrodi307]

Nice video

[@devincreislerstudios]

The Matrix 4 better blow our minds again or I will be disappointed and just have to watch the original again.

[@RonsaRRR]

Watch the original again.

[@devincreislerstudios]

@@RonsaRRR original was better. New movie was literally a rehash

[@RonsaRRR]

@@devincreislerstudios With awful action scenes.

[@joshuabroyles7565]

2 underrated movies that didn't make your list are the 13th Floor and The Cell. The complaint that the protagonist in the 13th Floor is a flat character is pretty ironic, since the movie would otherwise make less sense. Both movies happen to feature Vincent D'Onofrio, and both are worth watching just to see how D'Onofrio executes horrific personality transformations like he more famously did in Full Metal Jacket.

[@dulcespinelli]

I completely agree with you. "The Thirteenth Floor" was a great movie!!

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

Amen, bro!

[@SonyEnthusiast]

WAITING ON UPLOAD‼️

[@jacobb4795]

I’ve recently watched Truman show for the first time and it was incredible

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

The Matrix, imagine the world as you know it, is a Giant Simulation.🤔

[@Tomtomjameson]

It is lol

[@DJGamingSmash]

While I believe "The Matrix" doesn't deserve to top the list, I'm glad the underrated alternatives got mentioned.

[@colinbell2983]

Both Inception and The Truman Show are in my all time Top 10 Favourite Films

[@VOAxInsanity]

Paprika is on par with Inception if not slightly better

[@sid.469]

@@VOAxInsanity ya

[@JB-pp1kt]

@@VOAxInsanity nah it’s animated. Doesn’t portray reality the same as inception

[@VOAxInsanity]

@@JB-pp1kt you know inception was very very lightly inspired by Paprika right, not really inspired but there's a few scenes that are directly taken from Paprika

[@KittyGirl-mf1oo]

I knew WandaVision would be on here. I enjoyed that show, and I'm considering watching it again.

[@Magz66ify]

Alongside Black Mirror, you must include (off the top of my head) Doctor Who, Stargate SG-1, Eureka, Buffy. Given time I'm sure I'd remember others. Each one of these shows has one or more episodes devoted to the concept.

[@ultimatum6786]

I seriously don't know why people don't understand inception and interstellar. I understood both of them when I watched them first time and enjoyed them and never had to see them again for understanding

[@trexadvent4726]

Can you do comic book origin of Marvel's Arnim-Zola?

[@mlggamer5296]

Matrix and Tron are the best for me. I only watched Tron Legacy though. That would explain why there was a young Jeff bridges in that one and also an old one because he was the first one in Tron. I didn't know that. Although it's an anime not necessarily a TV show I would count Danganronpa 2 that one confused me the most and not just because it was a whodunit mystery. There's another one I think one with Anthony Mackie and something like different personalities going into different people or something like that. I can't remember the name of the show but I would think that's a simulated reality show Edit: it's Altered Carbon

[@ketwals2723]

A akin concept of dreams in dreams or simulations is also : Ashes of Love Eternal Love, Extraordinary you..lots of korean movies have this style...cause its all the believes u believe into...is so much movies about different realitys or a open mindplay....almost all phantasie movies included..

[@justinjohnson6082]

Y’all sleeping on Repo Men..... that ending was dope 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾🔥🔥🔥

[@itsAurora-zq8cb]

Omg it was !!! Didn't expect it.. Great movie, watched it a few times

[@justinjohnson6082]

@@itsAurora-zq8cb most definitely

[@maxmustermann1206]

How could they leave out "The Thirteenth Floor"? Great movie!

[@trexadvent4726]

Can you do top 10 facts about DC's World Forger?

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

"Dark City" needs more love.

[@sid.469]

Yes

[@arhamakhyar3088]

Is Fight Club not a simulated reality movie? Or she just don't want to break the first two rule of Fight Club?

[@abhinayt]

Ed Harris seems like a default hire for simulated movies/shows.

[@mimad01]

You narate well always

[@rmannayr2129]

I REMEMBER THE UPLOAD!

[@marchan0933]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Videodrome? Stay?

[@vichi5728]

Should have given the orignal i.e Ghost in the shell some credit for inspiring the wachowski sisters to make The Matrix.

[@mr.decencykeepinitreal6348]

Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' is one of the best science fiction films ever made and won an Oscar for "Best Visual Effects."

[@maheshkrishna6012]

Relax get some gabagool

[@jrogan3591]

No way, inception is just a snoozefest!

[@VOAxInsanity]

*Yeah its pretty good and almost a perfect movie especially the scenes he took/borrowed from Paprika... ok "took" may be too harsh of a word. Let's just say he's clearly a Paprika fan.*

[@Lost20048]

@@jrogan3591 ok bro stick to marvel and Michael Bay movies

[@jrogan3591]

@@Lost20048 Marvel rules, ur a fool!

[@lyrichardeman5779]

You remember Glitch Techs, The Amazing Digital Circus, The Hollow, and Severance?

[@shoneharis2003]

I Wanna see more wandavision episodes in future

[@CheifLoser128]

one of the best memes ever 'YOU'RE BREATHTAKING!'

[@gerhard1962]

Finally saw the person who talks on this channel 🙂👍

[@kitanajade810]

What about the movie "Strange Days" with Angela Basset and Juliette Lewis and Ralph Fiennes?

[@Cando01]

There should be Top 10 Simulated Reality Video Games, and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time should be number 1 on the list.

[@miracleshappen4483]

Why only American movies? Therr are so many international movies that are equally great. For example, Korean movies: - Wonderful Nightmare - Hello Ghost - The Dude in Me ...​and many more Chinese dramas have a genre called Xianxia equal to our fantasy genre, where reality is inhabitated by all sorts of creatures that can shapeshift into humans and reality is but a grand magic illusion. Japanese movies based on or inspired by anime stories are excellent too. Russian movies are great too with highly impressive CGI special effects, like in the movie "Coma". Open your eyes to international movies if you want to crack the matrix 🔓👀😁😀🤗💖

[@JoshuaG]

I wonder what lana wachowski is gonna do with "Matrix 4" 🤔🤔🤔

[@frankm7254]

It was not a blockbuster and Rebecca did not mention the movie but I enjoyed the movie "The Thirteenth Floor".

[@infostorm618]

Not a great movie, but "The 13th Floor" is a heavily invested V.R. environment setting with some interesting plot twists I will not spoil.

[@The6Eternal6Dark6Lord]

But it is a great movie

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

It IS a great movie

[@chrisreinsch7510]

I wonder what this list is going to look like once Free Guy is released on a streaming site.

[@Xcoolslayer6X]

No complaints with Matrix nabbing the too spot, right where it belongs, can't wait for Matrix 4 and the return of the one!

[@Lost20048]

No one is going to mention Jacob's Ladder ?

[@thelastofus1609]

Can't remember the last time Watchmojo had a list I completely agreed with. This one was spot on

[@WatchMojo]

uh, thanks!

[@thelastofus1609]

@@WatchMojo You're welcome! Now do a list of the Top Ten WatchMojo lists everyone loved, and another one for the Top Ten everyone hated!

[@heatherr0420]

Dark City is the movie you must see if you haven't seen it yet. Very dark very dystopian very good

[@strangerthingsfan0458]

Inception is the best of these no competition. Right now I'm debating if that or TDK is my favorite Nolan movie.

[@wayderyt]

where is "the 13th floor" it was really good

[@rorschachgaming8259]

Just watching. WandaVision better be here.

[@inceptionclause]

You Guys forgot to Mention:....The Adjustment bureau

[@pingidjit]

Why only mention the Westworld TV show? Its based on the OG movie, with some elements from its sequel as well.

[@timoback3000]

Strange Days should've got a honorable mention

[@mr_sm_status]

Love from Turkey 🇹🇷💖🇹🇷

[@mlggamer5296]

I hope it's not a simulation. I'm enjoying my life right now and it would be really sad that if I got like a girlfriend for example that would not be real.

[@joeren372]

What would a simulation change about life....it would be just as "real"....

[@cvnair1839]

Comment 13 of video idea. 'Best Live musical acts of all time.'

[@optimusprimefan84]

I'm not saying this is for sure, but The Rocky Horror Picture Show...... MAY have been a simulated reality all along.... AND have a possible connection with The Matrix. Now, I know that the Criminologist's investigation would, in fact, cancel out those possibilities, but..... maybe that part was to throw us all off, and the Criminologist may have been a computer program.

[@chefjax]

You missed the 13th floor. This is top five.

[@Scoobmaster11]

How could you leave out The Thirteenth Floor??

[@JJ-zr1wf]

Hanz Zimmer did a really good job

[@mattiasandersson3100]

I am surprised that Sword Art Online didn't at least get an honorable mention.

[@alayahbrunson6977]

I was hoping to see Spy Kids 3 or Tenet😩

[@asceticloner642]

I think simulation is something to do with Alzheimer’s. Yes think about it how can anyone forget their own children as they watch them grow and play they spent most of their energy thinking about them. It means simulation malfunctioning in Alzheimer’s patients And I agree with you simulation starts in the womb there is reference in the Mahabharata that Abhimanyu son of Arjuna learns art of war being in his mother’s womb One more thing people see future events in dreams this also connected to simulation .

[@trexadvent4726]

Which one of these movies and shows is exciting and worth watching?

[@VOAxInsanity]

Watch Paprika then watch Inception, then West World then the Truman Show... everything on the list is pretty good

[@ODogMcGee]

Star Treks holodeck?

[@noirangel6416]

*cough "Paprika" cough*

[@miketheunique2304]

13th Floor?

[@Lil_Cashu]

Looking for that one movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and he finds out that the world his living in is fake. (Only the saw the trailer) and no not Shutter island

[@miracleshappen4483]

I bumped into Wonda Vision by chance, I had no clue what was going to happen but after the first few unbelievably overacted and boring 1950's style episodes, it started to get better until it got mind blowing...!

[@Potrimpo]

I would put Total Recall at #3, the Matrix at #2, Inception at #1

Sure Why Not

[@opticz.bishrul1298]

i surprised shutter island isnt an honourable mention

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

It's not a simulation. It is all in the mind of a patient.