Pi
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A paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature. Pushed to his limits, he spirals between brilliance and obsession in this gripping, groundbreaking debut from Darren Aronofsky.
- BurnharmSeptember 12, 2026Pi was one of my favourite movies for a long time, and it was also the movie that introduced me to Darren Aronofsky. I remember discovering it and thinking it was really cool. The whole idea of mathematics, patterns, nature and the possibility that there is some deeper connection behind everything felt completely different to me at the time. It eventually led me to Requiem for a Dream and you can already see a lot of Aronofsky's style taking shape here. I still really like the way the movie represents Max's obsession. The camera constantly follows him, the black-and-white images make New York feel like this strange little universe, and everything feels claustrophobic and slightly insane. Even the people around him become part of this small world his neighbour, his old mentor, the Wall Street people and the religious group all pulling him in different directions. What starts as a search for a way to predict the stock market slowly becomes an obsession or something much bigger. I also love the way the movie shows the connection between maths and nature there are so many symbols and ideas running through. I can see also some of the ideas that may be ended up in The Fountain. The filmmaking is still super cool. The black and white photography, the strange camera movements, the New York locations and especially the music from Clint Mansell all work together to create this very particular atmosphere. I am going to be careful but felt like the eraser head of the 90s. It feels like a movie made with almost nothing that somehow manages to look and sound much bigger than it should. That said, watching it again, I have to admit that I remembered better than it actually is. Some of the ideas are more suggestive than deeply explored and the movie is definitely more interested in the feeling of discovering something than in actually explaining the mathematics. It may not be quite as amazing as I remembered but it is absolutely worth watching.
- Andy Davidson | folknhell.comAugust 18, 2025An unrelenting barrage on the senses, Pi firmly established Darren Aronofsky as a visionary new film-maker when it first arrived in 1998. It has lost none of its power in the intervening years. Staggering.
- Garrett WilkinsJuly 23, 2026There are films that ask you to follow a story, and then there are films like Pi that ask you to surrender to a state of mind. Darren Aronofsky's debut is less concerned with explaining its mysteries than with immersing the audience in Max's obsessive pursuit of absolute order within an inherently chaotic world. The grainy black-and-white cinematography, abrasive sound design, and Clint Mansell's relentless score all work together to create an atmosphere that feels simultaneously mathematical and nightmarish. Sean Gullette carries nearly every frame with a performance that becomes increasingly claustrophobic as Max's search for certainty begins consuming every aspect of his life. Even when I wasn't entirely sure where the film was taking me, I found it impossible to look away because of how uncompromising Aronofsky's vision remained. Looking back nearly three decades later, I'm not surprised A24 eventually acquired the distribution rights. Its unsettling atmosphere and willingness to challenge the audience feel perfectly aligned with the kind of filmmaking the studio would later become known for. Where Pi lost me was in how inaccessible some of its philosophical ideas became by the time the story reached its conclusion. I understood the themes it was reaching for far more than I understood the mechanics of how it arrived there, leaving me admiring the film's ambition more than fully connecting with it on an intellectual level. That said, I never felt confused because the film was poorly made; I felt challenged because Aronofsky intentionally refuses to simplify ideas that were never meant to have simple answers. It's an experience I respected more than I completely understood, and one that has left me thinking about it far more than many films I enjoyed more in the moment.
- nick wasslenMay 14, 2025Solid film. Incorporating a Lovecraftian angle on the limits of human knowledge and the consequences of wading too far in those dark waters.
- DigitalDisappointmentFebruary 20, 2025I have had more interesting rounds of the flu.
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Pi was released on July 10, 1998.
Pi was directed by Darren Aronofsky.
Pi has a runtime of 84m.
Pi was produced by Eric Watson.
A paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature. Pushed to his limits, he spirals between brilliance and obsession in this gripping, groundbreaking debut from Darren Aronofsky.
The key characters in Pi are Maximillian Cohen (Sean Gullette), Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis), Lenny Meyer (Ben Shenkman).
Pi is rated R.
Pi is a Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller film.
Pi has an audience rating of 8.5 out of 10.
Pi had a budget of $60,000.
Pi has made $3.2M at the box office.