Best Computer Science Related Movies and Shows

As a Computer Science graduate, I’ve always been interested in movies and shows that involve computer science. Whether you aren’t familiar with computer science or you’re a senior engineer, these movies and shows are sure to entertain. In fact, one of my favorite movies listed is the reason why I took on computer science as a major in college.

With this list, I hope to reach anyone that is interested in computer science and wants to learn more about it. I also hope to reach anyone that is already familiar with computer science and wants to watch something that they can relate to and help motivate them. Programmin is very difficult if you aren’t passionate enough.

The Social Nework

Staring Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network is a movie about the creation of Facebook. It’s a great movie to watch if you’re interested in the history of Facebook and how it came to be. While some parts of the movie are dramatized, it’s still a great movie to watch. It is one of the movies I tend to watch when I feel unmotivated and burnt out. It helps me remember why I chose computer science as a major and why I love it so much. And for the reason it has some of my favorite actors, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. I think their presence adds on to why I’ve watched this movie every year since it’s release.

The Imitation Game

I remember back in college, I was taking an alogrithms class and my professor recommended this movie. I was hesitant at first because I didn’t think it would be interesting. I was wrong and really helped me when I was feeling unmotivated. The Imitation Game is a movie about Alan Turing, a British mathematician, who is hired by the British government to crack the Enigma code during World War II. It’s a great movie to watch if you’re interested in cryptography and the history of it. The Turing machine is the reason why computers are what they are today. Some may say that Alan Turing is the father of computer science. While I’ve only seen this once, I would definitely watch it again.

Jobs

This movie brings light into how Steve Jobs was as an entrepreneur and how he started Apple. Jobs had a vision for Apple which made me appreciate him more for showing what beauty can come out of computers and that it isn’t scary to get into. While it’s been told it didn’t depict Jobs’ actual personality, and the 2015 Steve Jobs movie shows his personality more. I still appreciate the movie for Aston Kushers performance as Steve Jobs. He played his character very well and did a great “job” at it.

Free Guy

Recent movie but shows a dramaticized world where Artificial Intellegence could be a reality. The movie is a great watch even if the AI part is very unrealistic.

Silicon Valley

This was such a fun watch. It’s a show about a group of friends who start a startup in Silicon Valley with a compression algorithm. While some of it is unrealistic, it also taught me a few things about the tech industry as I was still looking for my first job as a developer. Great watch, funny show. Would always recommend.

On my to watch list:

• Pirates of Silicon Valley
• Mr. Robot