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Pi
1998 84 min United States of America R 18+
★7.6
Mystery, Drama, Thriller
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Trailers
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Description
A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.
Budget:
$60,000
US Gross:
$3.22M
Worldwide:
$3.22M
Starring
Sean Gullette
Actor
Mark Margolis
Actor
Ben Shenkman
Actor
Awards
Sundance Film Festival 1998
— Directing Award (Drama)
Sundance Film Festival 1998
— Grand Jury Prize (Drama)
Key opinion
Darren Aronofsky's debut is a polarizing, micro-budget psychological thriller that masterfully captures the descent of a math-obsessed protagonist into paranoia. While many praise its intellectual ambition and unique, visceral aesthetic, others find the experience intentionally grueling, pretentious, or narratively alienating.
| Score | Clint Mansell’s abrasive, electronic score effectively heightens the protagonist's descent into hysteria and psychological instability. | |
| Cinematography | The high-contrast black-and-white cinematography and frantic editing successfully create a claustrophobic, surreal atmosphere that mirrors a diseased consciousness. | |
| Theme | The film’s dense thematic focus on mathematical obsession and the dangers of absolute knowledge provides a compelling, if harrowing, philosophical experience. | |
| Accessibility | The film functions as an uncompromising art-house piece, with opinions divided on whether its difficult, surreal nature constitutes a bold masterpiece or a pretentious, inaccessible exercise. | |
| Pacing | The film's relentless, anxiety-inducing pacing is lauded by some as a necessary immersion into madness, while others find the rhythm monotonous and physically exhausting to endure. |