German philosopher and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx published The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, anticapitalist works that form the basis of Marxism

In the 1840s a subsequent generation of Hegelians—the so-called “left” or “young” Hegelians—became disillusioned with Hegel’s philosophy as a result of the philosopher’s open flirtation with political reaction in the Philosophy of Right and other texts. They came to regard Hegelian idealism as merely the philosophical window dressing of Prussian authoritarianism. From a similar point of view, Karl Marx (1818–83) famously criticized his fellow Germans for achieving in thought what other peoples—notably the French—had accomplished in reality. It seemed unlikely that a philosophy such as Hegel’s could ever serve progressive political ends.

Since the release of the first MATRIX movie in 1999, and especially after THE
MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS in 2003, a continuous flow of
articles and books ensued, addressing how the movies are tied into philosophical,
religious, and existential traditions of thought.

“The Matrix is a prison for the mind…designed to turn a human being into [a battery]”

The Matrix is an allegory for the alienating forces of capitalism.