There are dozens and dozens of STEM-focused media available to everyone. Today, I will be focusing on six STEM-related movies and briefly analyze them for accuracy. In other words, how much real-life basis do these STEM films have?
Ex Machina (2015)
Ex Machina, directed by Alex Garland, explores the dangers of artificial intelligence (A.I.). Released before the current wave of A.I. improvements, the film focuses on a man named Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) who wins a contest for a week-long visit at his CEO’s home. Little does he know the CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) has created Ava (Alicia Vikander), an artificial intelligence robot whose intelligence and capability he plans to test on Caleb.
As aforementioned, A.I. technology had not yet reached the heights we now see in 2024 at the time of release. Therefore, a lot of the science and technology in Ex Machina is purely speculative rather than factual. It is suggested that the most reality basis it has is Bateman’s misogynistic and patriarchal values, a common finding when considering most STEM contributors are men. Yet, the film also offers a lot to ponder about the future of technology and the dangers of A.I. Nate Bateman’s egotistical nature is something shared by many A.I. scientists, reflecting how dangerous it is to allow these technologies to be developed in the wrong hands. His motives are selfish and not intended to improve the world. These elements make the movie less scientifically “accurate” and more so a clever commentary on A.I. development. Either way, this film is a fantastic science fiction watch.
Hidden Figures (2016)
Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, is loosely based on a book of the same name. Both titles follow the stories of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three real black women who worked for NASA and helped them achieve success during the Space Race. While the book goes into much more detail, the film is still a solid depiction of the trio’s achievements, balancing fact and drama for a delightful watch.
Since the events in the film are largely based in fact (with a few dramatic exceptions, common to many biographical films), there’s a lot of real-life science heavily involved in the plot. The achievements highlighted are all real things Katherine, Dorothy and Mary did in real life. The team of “human computers” were a real group of black women that worked for NASA. While the segregation and racial tension are greatly exaggerated via fictional characters, those concepts were more than prevalent during the era the movie takes place. All in all, while some elements are fictionalized and dramatized, most of Hidden Figures is indeed mostly factual.
Read more on Katherine Johnson here
The Imitation Game (2014)
This biographical film follows Alan Turing’s major contributions to the British army during World War II. There’s a heavy focus on usage of the enigma machine, which Nazi Germany used for secret messages, and the opposition’s success in breaking and using the technology against the enemy. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Turing, who was an English mathematician, computer scientist, and more. The film mainly delves into his involvement in World War II, albeit a heavily fictionalized version of it. Critics and audiences praised Cumberbatch’s stellar performance, and the film was a box-office success upon release.
The film, while enjoyable, faces several historical inaccuracies. Even some of the achievements portrayed on-screen cannot be credited to Alan Turing himself. The writers were accused of scrambling the order of events and embellishing, making fictional characters instead of highlighting real people. Overall, this film is wonderful to watch albeit with a grain of salt knowing it isn’t 100% accurate.
The Matrix (1999)
Directed by the Wachowski Sisters, The Matrix is a science fiction classic. The film centers around Neo, a computer hacker who discovers humanity is trapped in a simulated reality. It stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, and more. The film met raucous praise upon release, with audiences and critics applauding the acting, fighting choreography, and science fiction elements.
Out of all the picks of this list, I believe this one is the most phantasmal. Without going into deep spoilers, there is little real-life technology or science in this film. In fact, perhaps the closest element to reality is the plot’s relation to simulation theories that have circulated for a significant time. These theories, though, are exactly that—theoretical that have yet to be outright proven—and do not have extensive research or studies behind it. This makes The Matrix a fun, exciting roller coaster of a film with some thought-provoking futuristic possibilities.
The Wind Rises (2013)
The Wind Rises is a Studio Ghibli film that takes place before, during, and after World War II. The story focuses on Jiro, a fictional representation of the real man Jiro Horikoshi. It chronicles his work as an engineer building war planes for the Japanese, from his unsuccessful Mitsubishi 1MF10 prototype to his very effective Mitsubishi A5M.
The story weaves Jiro's real engineering work with a largely embellished tale of his personal life. But the man himself had an unrivaled passion with his aircraft, spending more time speaking and writing on his work rather than his actual life. The movie stays faithful to what Jiro saw as a very important part of him, and the story of the engineering failures and successes are accurate to the real history of Japanese warplanes.
Big Hero 6 (2014)
The Disney animated film Big Hero 6 is a movie about family, grief, love, and robotics. The genius child protagonist Hiro is a skilled roboticist, alongside his older brother Tadashi and Tadashi's classmates. The movie focuses on Hiro and his brother's classmates becoming a superhero team after the untimely demise of Tadashi. The group greatly depends on the use of highly advanced robotics, especially as the villain they face off against utilizes Hiro's extremely versatile micro-bots against the protagonists.
While nanobots have been an ongoing area of research especially for medical use, they are not nearly as advanced as shown in Big Hero 6 and are far away from being utilized to the extent shown in the film. And though each of the protagonist's skills have grounding in real science, such as Honey Lemon using actual chemical reactions and GoGo's electromagnetism skates, the level to which they are used are highly advanced and not yet feasible as of 2024. But we’ll see what the future holds!
Which of these movies did you most enjoy?
Ex Machina
Hidden Figures (2016)
The Imitation Game
The Matrix
You can vote for more than one answer.
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