Vincent D'Onofrio Totally Owns This Weird R-Rated Sci-Fi Mystery That Came Out the Same Year as 'The Matrix' (2025)

By Jacob Slankard

Published Apr 23, 2025

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Vincent D'Onofrio Totally Owns This Weird R-Rated Sci-Fi Mystery That Came Out the Same Year as 'The Matrix' (2)

1999 is one of the greatest years in film history, with a shocking number of movies released that were either monumental artistic achievements or culturally significant turning points, including The Blair Witch Project, Election, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The Sixth Sense. As wild a claim as it might be to pick just one, I'd argue that The Matrix stands above the rest as the most accomplished and truly important film released that year.

Besides maybe Fight Club, no other film has remained more relevant to the current age or better resisted being carbon-dated as a '90s artifact. With a status like that, it's little wonder that its shadow completely covered The Thirteenth Floor, a totally forgotten sci-fi film that came out the same year with a somewhat similar premise involving virtual reality. While it can't be considered anywhere near the same league as The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor is still a lot of fun if you view it from the right angle.

What Is 'The Thirteenth Floor' About?

Vincent D'Onofrio Totally Owns This Weird R-Rated Sci-Fi Mystery That Came Out the Same Year as 'The Matrix' (3)

Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the multimillionaire owner and inventor of a virtual reality simulation, is found murdered, and the prime suspect is his protégé, Douglas (Craig Bierko). All the evidence makes Douglas look like the culprit, and he doesn't know what seems true anymore, especially after learning of Fuller's daughter, Jane (Gretchen Mol), who wants to shut the whole simulation down. He's lost as to how to solve this until learning that Fuller left him a message before he died telling him he could find what he needs inside the simulation.

With the help of his friend, Jason (Vincent D'Onofrio), the only person who can operate the simulation, Douglas must go inside the program to find the answers that will bring him salvation. Plot construction isn't this film's strong suit, as it presents all this information in a manner that's either too cluttered or too flatly expository, leaving too many implications of its worldbuilding vague and unexplored. However, once it's finished setting the table and finally gets down to business, it can be a lot of fun.

'The Thirteenth Floor' Succeeds More As Noir Than It Does Sci-Fi

Vincent D'Onofrio Totally Owns This Weird R-Rated Sci-Fi Mystery That Came Out the Same Year as 'The Matrix' (4)

Once you look past the futuristic window dressing of the virtual reality premise, The Thirteenth Floor is really much more of a murder mystery noir, with all the genre trappings that the label implies. You get a suspicious detective hounding Douglas, you get allies that seem to be hiding their own secrets, and you get atmospheric cinematography that's clearly taking cues from Blade Runner.

The film's attempt at an emotional anchor is a romance between Douglas and Jane that explicitly recalls any number of tragic noir romances, although it really stumbles at making these characters have any real chemistry. For reasons that are never explained, the simulation is designed to look like Los Angeles in 1937, an excuse to put the film in the legacy of the great noirs of the past. As much as The Thirteenth Floor was presumably shrugged off as a Matrix wannabe, it has far more in common with the cult classic that was released one year prior, Dark City, with its concepts of confusion of identity and simulated recreations of a stylistic past. While your mileage may vary on whether the solutions to the plot are satisfying and whether any of the film's rules make sense, the unfurling of the plot is pretty fun, with an undeniable MVP making it easier to get into.

Vincent D'Onofrio Steals the Show in 'The Thirteenth Floor'

If there's any one reason this movie should be seen, it's for Vincent D'Onofrio, who's clearly having the most fun with his role. He gets to play two different characters, as both Jason, the '90s version of a quirky nerd, and Ashton, a bartender in the simulation who may be Douglas' only true ally. D'Onofrio gets to play around with two extremes, going from nebbishy and socially inept to mysterious and nefarious, from one bad stringy blonde wig to a more close-cut bad blonde wig, and grunge-slacker chic to dapper vests and suits. No spoilers, but there's even a late-game crossing of the streams that gives D'Onofrio the license to go wild, a much-needed injection of levity in a film that tends to drown in its self-seriousness.

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This film was released at a time when D'Onofrio was still known more as a character actor with a specialty in playing freakshow villains, and The Thirteenth Floor suffers from not leaning more into the notion of having his dual characters become the dominant threat in the plot. It tends to get lost in its attempts at questioning the boundaries of reality (think something along the lines of Don't Worry, Darling, of all films), and could have benefited from a refocusing of its narrative momentum. That said, The Thirteenth Floor makes for a quick-moving way to spend an afternoon and is an interesting attempt at genre fusion, even if it's easy to see why it got outclassed by other films of similar ilk.