is full of references as the most meta movie in an already incredibly meta franchise that the self-referential Easter egg doesn't feel forced at all.
At the beginning of Resurrections, Neo and Trinity have been reinserted into the Matrix with seemingly no memory of their past lives. The two characters have several encounters with each other, but neither recognizes the other one. Neo (once again referred to as Thomas Anderson) simply believes that the journey he went on is a fictional story he wrote for a trilogy of games he created, aptly titled The Matrix. Many of the locations and events from the original films are mirrored in Resurrections, including a restaurant which Neo said he ate at, stating that they have "really good noodles." Moments like this show the humanity that these characters have maintained even though so much has happened between The Matrix 3 & 4.
During a montage in the first act of Matrix Resurrections, Thomas Anderson is seen eating noodles at a restaurant several times. While this in itself is a reference to the line from the original film, it has recently been pointed out that the reference goes a little deeper than that (via Reddit). In one of the shots, a picture frame can be spotted hanging on the wall above Thomas Anderson. Although seemingly a random background detail, a closer look reveals that the picture is actually of a much younger Keanu Reeves. That would be meta enough on its own if it were simply an image from one of the original films, as some may expect. But it goes one level further, as it is a picture of Keanu Reeves taken while the crew went to eat at that very noodle restaurant while filming the original Matrix movie.
The real restaurant is called House of Nanking, and it is located in San Francisco, California. According to a blog post by restaurant co-owner Kathy Fang (via Fangalicious), the picture is actually of her and Keanu Reeves, taken while the actor was waiting in line at the restaurant. Apparently, the crew had been longtime fans of the restaurant and gave them the picture to hang on the wall. So, when deciding what restaurant to use for Matrix Resurrection's filming, the crew decided to use the very same restaurant they visited while making the original. Moments like this just go to show the effort and care that was put into The Matrix Resurrections, truly making the movie a love letter to the original trilogy that started it all.
Matrix Resurrections is a film with lots of meaning, as its message and thematic purpose require much analysis to fully unpack. However, it is also loaded with Easter eggs, in-jokes, and references that elevate it above other franchise reboots that only shallowly reference events from previous movies but don't dive any deeper than that. Much like a bowl of noodles, the film is full of intertwining moments and ideas, and it will take years to discover and understand them all. The Matrix Resurrections is one of the most meta films to recently come out of Hollywood, and this Easter egg about a real noodle restaurant and Keanu Reeves' real life is just another great example.
