Lost memories of films that I never saw...

In 1998 "Dark City" by Alex Proyas was released, or so we are told. It is a story about memories, the film maker would probably even go as far as to say that the film deals with what it is to be human... I would probably not agree if I was forced to make up my mind. The film is a noir sic-fi, but it is much more. Not because of how good it is by it self but rather because it was made in 1998. This film does not deal with what the human souls is. This film is a mixture of Nosferatu vampires, X-files abduction, Gotham City, an imagery boarder lining Aronofskys Requiem for a Dream, only two years before Aronofsky made his mater piece (No, "Black Swan" is not even close) and a plot line with too many touch points to the Wachowski brothers Matrix. Or what do you make of this:
The humans are sleeping. Someone, a force that is unseen can manipulated every detail of every day life. A life that is a lie, in a city that is never ending and more or less just a stage. The agents for the force is keeping the humans as unaware prisoners. With the help of "technology so advanced that it is indistinguishable from magic" to quote Isaac Asimov. One man possess the power to over throw the system and free the humans. This man can even beat the bad guys on their own turf; he has evolved far beyond their control of their force. The extensive use of 3D effects with houses shape shifting and so on and the list goes on and on.
All this in 1998, one year before Matrix, and 2 years before Requiem for a dream.
The interesting part is that I had never heard of the film before I found it by chance, yesterday. Even more fitting considering that the film has the backdrop of lost memories and how these are fabricated. Now there are several other films that have tie ins to this film like the bizarreties of Cronenbergs "Naked lunch" from1991 and that the main character has the same haircut that Paul Reiser sported in Camerons "Aliens" (1986)... and again this film was supposed to be made in 1998! But that is beside the point and those movies where made prior to this one.
This film has so many touch points with Matrix that I have to dub it a proto-Matrix, although it does not come close in quality. Around that time, pre the terrorist-scare of this new millenia there were several films dealing with concepts of humans trapped in fake worlds, interesting to note that Cronenberg also did eXistenZ in 1999 and Natalis Cube in 1997. But still this film or maybe the inferior script for it must have had some impact on Matrix and Requiem for a Dream. This does not just happen.
What I do not get is how I managed not to be aware of this films existence? It has been 13 years since it was made, they tell me...