A Trip to Infinity

The documentary follows a single question: does infinity really exist, or is it only a concept. Mathematicians, physicists and cosmologists speak in turn. Is the infinity of numbers a different thing from the infinity of the universe, can there be infinities of different sizes, what happens inside black holes, and if the universe is infinite must the same life repeat somewhere else. Each section opens with a question and closes with another one instead of an answer. Jonathan Halperin and Drew Takahashi direct. The documentary dates from 2022 and was released on Netflix. Its form joins talking heads to animation; the visual sections were made by artists from different countries, each in a separate manner. Those speaking are researchers working in mathematics and physics; the narrative puts none of them forward as an authority and shows where they disagree. Its best section is on infinities of different sizes; there the narrative manages to describe a mathematical result visually. The section on thermodynamics and the end of the universe is its bleakest side. Its method is to reach no conclusion; the documentary offers no answer and says so plainly. Its limit is depth; little time is given to each subject and it stays shallow for a viewer already familiar with them. Who it is for: viewers who like science documentary and visual experiment. Who it is not for: the structure is loose, there is little technical explanation, and the narrative stays abstract.