Who composed the score for The Matrix?

Don Davis composed the score for The Matrix.

Davis’s music gives the film an ominous, unsettling sound that differs from a conventional heroic action score. His writing uses dissonance, dense orchestral clusters, shifting harmonies, and avant-garde techniques to reflect the film’s uncertainty about reality. The score can feel mechanical and threatening in scenes involving agents or machines, then expand into more dramatic orchestral writing during Neo’s transformation.

The Matrix was not scored by one of the famous blockbuster composers listed as the wrong options. Danny Elfman, John Williams, and Hans Zimmer each have major film credits, but Davis created the original score for this film. The soundtrack also includes licensed songs by artists such as Rage Against the Machine, Rob Zombie, and Propellerheads; those songs are separate from Davis’s composed score.

Davis continued his collaboration with the Wachowskis on The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Animatrix. His Matrix work is often noted for bringing an atonal and experimental approach into a hugely popular action franchise.