Movies about Mathematics: Essential Films

Based on a true story, a dedicated math teacher in East Los Angeles uses unconventional methods to inspire his underprivileged Hispanic students to excel in advanced calculus and defy everyone's expectations.

A reformed computer hacker and his team of security experts are blackmailed into stealing a powerful code-breaking device, only to discover they've become pawns in a larger conspiracy that threatens the world economy.

A brilliant but troubled young janitor at MIT discovers his extraordinary mathematical abilities and must work with a therapist to overcome his past and unlock his potential.

A brilliant but obsessive mathematician becomes convinced he has discovered a mathematical pattern that can unlock the secrets of the universe and predict the future.

A brilliant but socially awkward mathematician makes groundbreaking discoveries early in his career, but his life takes a dramatic turn as he struggles with mental illness while pursuing his academic work.

A young woman devoted to her brilliant mathematician father begins to question her own sanity as she witnesses his descent into madness, fearing she may have inherited both his genius and his mental illness.

An animal control officer becomes dangerously obsessed with a mysterious novel that seems to mirror his own life in disturbing ways.

Four mathematicians find themselves trapped in a mysterious room that begins shrinking, forcing them to solve deadly puzzles to survive.

A brilliant M.I.T. student struggling to afford medical school tuition joins a secretive group trained by his professor to count cards at blackjack casinos. Based on a true story, this thriller follows the high-stakes world of professional card counting.

A mathematics professor and graduate student at Oxford University investigate a series of murders that appear to be connected by cryptic mathematical symbols.

Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane revolutionizes baseball by using computer-generated statistical analysis to build a competitive team on a tight budget.

A biographical drama following the parallel journeys of two brilliant 19th-century German scientists: explorer Alexander von Humboldt and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, as they pursue their groundbreaking work in their respective fields.

Four mathematicians who have solved a complex algorithm must decide whether to sell their discovery to the U.S. Department of Defense for $10 million, wrestling with the ethical implications of their breakthrough.

Based on the true story of mathematician Alan Turing, this film follows his work leading a team of codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War II as they race against time to crack the seemingly impossible German Enigma code.

The extraordinary story of renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and his relationship with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde, chronicling his groundbreaking scientific work alongside his personal struggles with ALS.

Four emotionally stunted individuals struggle to form meaningful connections with others while confronting their fears of intimacy and vulnerability.

A biographical drama about the remarkable journey of self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, who travels from poverty in colonial India to Cambridge University during WWI to work with renowned professor G.H. Hardy and make groundbreaking contributions to mathematical theory.

The inspiring true story of three brilliant African-American women mathematicians at NASA who played crucial roles in the early space program during the 1960s. Despite facing racial and gender discrimination, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson made groundbreaking contributions that helped launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit.

A single man raising his mathematically gifted young niece finds himself in a custody battle with his mother over the child's future and education.

Based on the true story of mathematician Anand Kumar, who creates a groundbreaking program to help underprivileged students in Patna prepare for India's prestigious IIT entrance exams.

A brilliant mathematics student at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure faces a crisis when an unexpected mistake during her thesis presentation threatens to unravel her carefully planned future.