Exploring boundaries between real and virtual worlds

Released the same year as The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor was largely overshadowed at the box office and in the cultural imaginary but it is no less pompous in its aspiration to explore the meaning of reality, even going so far as to open with a quote from Descartes. Spinning a confusing, neo-noir melodramatic narrative predicated on nested simulations and the ready ability to permanently transfer consciousness between the minds of real and virtual characters, The Thirteenth Floor soberly skims the surface of ethical implications of placing artificial intelligence agents in persistent worlds.