10 Sci-Fi Movies That Forced You To Answer Impossible Questions

2. The Red Pill Or The Blue Pill? - The Matrix

The Matrix is one of the most influential sci-fi films ever made, and it asked a mind-melting central question with a near-universal relevance.

If it transpired that your entire life was a simulation, would you prefer to keep living in said simulation, or take your chances with the post-apocalyptic real world?

Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) offers Neo (Keanu Reeves) the blue pill, to keep living in The Matrix and have no memory of their interaction, or the red pill, to be irreversibly unplugged from The Matrix and eke out a difficult but honest existence in reality.

It comes down to the bliss of ignorance and whether you could accept it in order to have an easier life.

This is best realised in the movie through the character of Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), who having grown weary of the real world, cuts a deal with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) to be re-inserted into The Matrix with no memories of his time outside it, for helping deliver them Morpheus.

As Cypher sits there eating a juicy steak, you can sense how tired and frustrated he is with real life, and you can appreciate how the comfort of The Matrix would be appealing after spending a decade eating Tastee Wheat and never seeing the real sunrise even once.

Could you accept the lie, or would you need to live an honest life, even if it would probably be a shorter one full of suffering? It's a tough choice, but for many of us, the simulation would win out, especially as our knowledge of the truth could be wiped.