MathFiction: In Our Prime [I-sang-han na-ra-eui su-hak-ja] (Lee Yong-jae (screenwriter) / Dong-hoon Park (director))

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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In Our Prime [I-sang-han na-ra-eui su-hak-ja] (2022)

Lee Yong-jae (screenwriter) / Dong-hoon Park (director)
...

A poor student at an expensive South Korean academy receives much needed math tutoring (and a place to stay) from the school's security guard. The student later discovers that the security guard is in fact a mathematical genius who defected from North Korea. He had made progress on proving the Riemann Hypothesis, but defected with his son because his government cared only about his work's cryptographic implications. The mathematician put aside his research after his son died while trying to return to North Korea.

The teacher of the student's math class is portrayed negatively. He does not appreciate the student's improved mathematical ability because the teacher is only interested in grades, not in the beauty or truth of mathematics. Moreover, the teacher helps his students cheat in a math competition.

Spoiler Alert: The movie concludes with a "feel good ending" showing the (former) student and security guard meeting again at Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach years later and discussing math.

Thanks to Zin Li for bringing this work of mathematical fiction to my attention.

More information about this work can be found at www.imdb.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to In Our Prime [I-sang-han na-ra-eui su-hak-ja]

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

The Housekeeper and the Professor (Hakase No Aishita Sushiki) by Yoko Ogawa
X+Y (A Brilliant Young Mind) by Morgan Matthews (Director) / James Graham (Writer)
The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J.M. Lee (author) / Chi-Young Kim (translator)
The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
Gifted by Marc Webb (director) / Tom Flynn (writer)
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar / Akiva Goldsman
The Life of Chuck by Stephen King (author) / Mike Flannagan (screenplay and director)
Proof by David Auburn
Fermat's Best Theorem by Janet Kagan
Contact by Carl Sagan

Ratings for In Our Prime [I-sang-han na-ra-eui su-hak-ja]:

Ratings

Have you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.

Mathematical Content:
4/5 (1 votes)

Literary Quality:
4/5 (1 votes)

Categories:

Genre
Motif	Genius, Proving Theorems, Math as Beautiful/Exciting/Useful, Math Education,
Topic	Algebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
Medium	Films,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)