Did you enjoy The Matrix? What if I tell you there was another movie which came right about the same time, and it tackles similar themes altogether differently? If that rouses your curiosity then Dark City is for you.

A man wakes up without knowing his past and does not understand the time and place he has just gained consciousness and is a murder suspect. This is pretty much a nice boilerplate but as the story unfolds the rabbit hole goes much deeper. The science-fiction elements come in quite early as we are introduced to a species called the Strangers and their aim to understand humans.

The cast is well done. The protagonist, Rufus Sewell was unknown to me and I almost mistook him for Ray Liotta. Not being very well known works in his favour in this story as his narrative of just another man caught in something he doesn't understand becomes much more believable. Unfortunately, he is not the best in the acting department though. That title goes to William Hurt or Jennifer Connelly. I have always liked her and even in this film, she looks stunning as usual.

Although as I said above, the concept is fairly similar to The Matrix which released one year after, the motives are quite different. The Matrix talks about the war between the man and machine, whereas Dark City tackles a much sinister philosophical curveball.

> "Or are we, in fact, more than the sum of our memories?"

This is going to last with me for some time. [spoiler]We see the manipulation of memories throughout the movie. It is an attempt to see what makes us human. As the doctor puts it, "It is our capacity of individuality".[/spoiler] That is why a farmer's son can be a soldier, a carpenter's daughter can be a musician. As a concept, this could be expanded upon in drama too. For a science-fiction setting, the movie made the best use of these lines. But there could be a lot of more to unravel here and a good director could fashion any genre out of this. These lines were a highlight for me in the film.

Considering the 90's, the CGI towards the end leaves you wanting for more, and that we know was possible just a year later, but at 27M this falls under a modest budget film. The ending sequence could have been cut short a bit considering the budget, but that does not dilute the overall impact of the film.

With all the exposition and a conclusive ending, this doesn't fall in the mindfuck category, but still, it keeps a few lingering thought behind as the credits roll. Recommended.