Plato states that in our everyday lives, we get only a dim, superficial view of the external world. He compares this limited perception to the shadows items placed outside a cave would cast on a wall inside that cave. Everyday people are thus like people in that cave facing the wall, getting only this limited, monochromatic, two-dimensional view of the world "out there." In order to really see what things out there are like, what constitutes their essence or true being, we have to get up and go out of the cave.
In "The Matrix", the Keanu Reeves character (Neo) starts out being an everyday person, but it becomes evident to him over time (with the help of Laurence Fishburne) that something is wrong with his everyday experience. The scene where he has to decide which pill to take is somewhat like the decision we have to make in Platos understanding to turn around and face the actual world outside the cave (the world of being rather than appearance). Neo and the others living outside the Matrix try to bring enlightenment or knowledge to those inside by struggling against the agents, etc., just like a philosopher in Platos view is obligated to bring enlightenment to the cave-dweller.
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