World Mathematics Day: 30 must-see movies based on mathematics that you can't afford to miss
You can either love mathematics or you can hate it. There is no in-between when it comes to this subject. Right from the discovery of the Number Zero to various geometric theorems that make our life easier, there is a lot this subject holds within its folds.
On World Mathematics Day, we give you the films that have paid homage to the abstract science of numbers, quantity, and space.
Stand and Deliver (1988) - This brilliant drama's based on the true story of Jaime Escalante, a high-school teacher, who successfully inspires his dropout-prone students to learn calculus.
21 (2008) - A group of MIT current and former students, mostly mathematicians, and a mathematics professor devise a card counting scheme for success at Las Vegas Strip blackjack tables.
X+Y / A brilliant young mind (2014) - A teenage mathematical prodigy has difficulty understanding people, but finds comfort in numbers.
An Invisible Sign (2011) - Mona (Jessica Alba) gives up everything important to her in life, except maths, as part of a 'deal with the universe' to help restore her father (a mathematician) to health.
Cube (1997) – Six people, including Leaven, a maths student, awake in a deathtrap based on mathematical principles
The Bank (2001) – A mathematician discovers a formula to predict fluctuations in the stock market.
Code Breaker (2011) - A well-crafted biopic on Alan Turing, the British math genius, who cracked the enigma code, and wrote a paper laying out the original plan for computers.
Fermat's Room (2007) - Three mathematicians and one inventor are invited to a house under the premise of solving a great enigma, and trapped in a room. They must solve puzzles given by the host.
Moebius (1996) - Topologists including a young girl make contributions to the subway system and other facets of reality in Argentina in this math film with a science fiction and surreal feel.
Gifted (2017) - The intriguing film follows an intellectually gifted 7-year-old with crazy math-skills, who becomes the subject of a custody battle between her uncle and grandmother.
Moneyball (2011) - Oakland Athletics baseball team's general manager Billy Beane attempts to assemble a competitive team using statistics.
Enigma (2001) - A story of romantic and psychological intrigue set during the WW II, detailing the efforts to crack the German Enigma machine, an encryption device used in military communication.
The Oxford Murders (2008) - A student finds out about mysterious killings in Oxford and helped by a professor, they reveal the math patterns used by the killer.
Pi (1998) - A mathematician searches for the number that underlies all of nature.
The Theory of Everything (2014) : This Cambridge University-set film details the life of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.
Proof (2005) - A former student of a recently deceased, brilliant mathematician finds a note in his office containing a proof of an important theorem but the mathematician's daughter claims it is hers
Raising Genius (2004) – The film is about a boy, who locks himself in the bathroom to work out math equations on the shower wall.
Sneakers (1992) – An eclectic team is assembled to steal a code-breaking box developed by a rogue mathematician.
Travelling Salesman (2012) – The US government hires four mathematicians to solve the most powerful problem ever to plague computer science (P vs NP problem).
Agora (2009) - The biopic of Hypatia, the female mathematician and astronomer in late 4th-century Rome, who investigates the flaws of the geocentric Ptolemaic system and the heliocentric model.
A Brief History of Time (1991) – A biographical documentary film about the physicist Stephen Hawking, directed by Errol Morris.
Infinity (1996) – A rivetting story about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, played by Matthew Broderick.
I.Q. (1994) – Albert Einstein helps a young man pretend to be a physicist in order to catch the attention of Einstein's niece.
N Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős (1993) – A documentary bout the life of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, who was known for his eccentric lifestyle.
The Imitation Game (2014) – British mathematician Alan Turing, a pioneer in digital computing and AI, is tasked with cracking Nazi Germany's Enigma code that would help the Allies win WW II.
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) – The story of Indian math-wizard, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), who develops numerous properties of infinite series as a clerk in India.
Good Will Hunting (1997) – Janitor and super-genius Will Hunting (Matt Damon) begins to turn his life around with the help of psychologist (Robin Williams) and a Fields Medal-winning professor.
Hidden Figures (2016) – African American mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson are featured in this film about the early years of the NASA Project Mercury.
A Beautiful Mind (2001) – A brilliant account based on the life of mathematician John Nash (Russell Crowe), who wins the Nobel Memorial, battling schizophrenia all the way.
Special mention 1: 90 to Win (2017) Short film - An Indian man quits a stable job to create an alternative to the Duckworth Lewis Method used in Cricket.
Special mention 2: Ramanujan (2014) – A biographical film in Tamil by Gnana Rajasekaran, based on the life of Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Special mention 3: Super 30 (2019) - This Hindi film tells the real-life story of mathematician Anand Kumar, who trains students for IIT-JEE in Bihar.
