Back in 1999, we had two movies from the cyberpunk genre. There was The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor. Both movies had distinct styles to them, but The Matrix became a sleeper hit. In fact, it ended up being so profitable that they made two sequels and are currently working on a new theatrical release. However, The Thirteenth Floor kind of came and went to the theaters and faded into obscurity. Given the fact that we are having more discussions about simulation theory these days, one would have to wonder if the movie would have been a hit If released today.
Admittedly, some of the plot might not make complete sense if you over think it, but the ideas proposed in the movie led to things that people such as Elon Musk discuss today. In the future (2024), they created different simulations that they could watch and observe. There were people created with feelings and emotions, and the simulation creators could even jack into the simulations and assume the lives of the people in that simulation for a brief amount of time.
It's a bit difficult to discuss the premise of this movie without giving away spoilers, so I'm afraid I must give that warning now. If you don't want the movie spoiled, you can stop reading. The simulation in this movie is based on 1999 Los Angeles. In it, the people of that world have created their own simulation. It's based on 1937 Los Angeles. Basically, we have simulated people creating a simulation within their simulation, but they are unaware that they are also in a simulation.
Hannon Fuller is the creator of the 1937 simulation. The character is played by Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Armin also plays the role of Gierson in the 1937 simulation. He's an older man, and basically the Fuller character uses the Gierson character to act out his fantasies with women. Fuller's lead assistant is Douglas Hall, played by Craig Bierko. Craig definitely has a Jeff Goldblum quality about him. In the 1937 simulation, his character is John Ferguson.
Obviously, the idea that you can create a simulation within a simulation alone isn't enough for a movie, so you need a story. In this case, Fuller discovers a terrible secret and is trying to contact Hall to let him know. He leaves a message with the 1937 bartender Jerry Ashton, played by Vincent D'Onofrio. Before Fuller can speak with Hall, he is murdered. Hall becomes the prime suspect, and what's worse is he's got a memory blackout. He doesn't really know where he was.
As detective Larry McBain, played ably by Dennis Haysbert, begins his investigation, the mysterious Jane Fuller, played by Gretchen Mol, arrives on the scene. She's claiming to be the daughter of Hannon Fuller, but the old man never told Hall that he had a daughter. Jane would like to shut down the simulation, but it's revealed in Hannon's will that Hall has inherited the business.
Hall wants to figure out what Hannon Fuller was trying to tell him, and he's also a suspect in the murder investigation. When the bartender from the (1999) bar the night that Fuller was murdered shows up to shake Hall down for money to cover up his alleged deeds, he ends up getting murdered as well. Hall is the prime suspect there too, but Jane Fuller presents him with an alibi. He was with her at the time.
The story takes an interesting turn when the Ashton character decides to read the note that Hannon had given him for Hall. He investigates it for himself and discovers that the 1937 world that he lives in isn't real. He drives to the edge of the simulation, and at that point he basically snaps. When Hall as the character Ferguson comes back to try to get the note from Ashton, it results in a brutal fight scene. However, Hall ends up discovering what the note said. Hannon was trying to tell him that the 1999 world that he lived in was a simulation too.
There's a bit more to this story as it builds up. We get a bit of a love story between the Hall character and Jane Fuller. There's good chemistry between the two, but you may question how she is in love with Hall. There's an explanation, but you basically have to take her word for it. Again, the writers needed a plot. The simulation theory is the backdrop of the story they are trying to tell, and they definitely draw upon science fiction elements as the story wraps up.
Somehow, the Ashton character makes it out of the 1937 simulation and into the body of Jason Whitney, also played by D'Onofrio. He thinks he's seeing the actual reality, but Hall now understands that this world isn't real either. There's an interesting scene where Ashton is standing next to the big computer that runs the 1937 simulation, and he makes the comment that the machine is breathing. This is not unlike what they say about the D-Wave computer technology we are using these days, but those computers weren't in existence at the time the movie was filmed.
The movie is interesting for the fact that we are having these discussions about artificial intelligence and potential simulated realities. If simulated people could be created, would they think, feel and love? Would they in effect be alive, even just within the confines of the computer program? Could you have feelings for a simulated person? And of course, the question posed more recently by Elon Musk is could people living in a simulated reality create a similar simulation?
This is the theory that Musk has spoken of in some of his interviews. As we create more realistic looking games and simulations, we can create worlds that are indistinguishable from our own. He theorizes that at that point we have to consider the real possibility that we ourselves are living within a simulation. It's a real head-scratcher of a theory, and though some scientists raise the notion that it's at least possible, many others scoff at the idea.
The Thirteenth Floor proposed an ambitious idea that might have been a little bit ahead of its time. The Matrix took on these themes and did them differently and perhaps a little bit better. However, this movie wasn't without its charm. If you're open to these types of possibilities, it will make you think about things. It proposed ideas that were not being talked about in movies up until then. It's an above-average film that's certainly worth checking out. It doesn't have all of the action that The Matrix has, but it still has a decent plot.
