This week I saw Particle Fever, a film documenting the search for the illusive Higgs Boston particle. The film starts with a very brief summary of physics and particles, what they are, how they were discovered and how our understanding of them has changed. By the time we were caught up with the history of particles they let us know there was one they knew should be there but couldn’t find. The Higgs, or god particle. A particle that holds everything together. To find it they built a 17 mile circular tube made with super magnets and they sent pre-discovered particles around it almost at the speed of light. Then they would make them collide. At those collisions they would then inspect what flew off and hoped to find the missing particle there.

A major theme of this film was disappointment and overcoming failure. An example of this was after they finally got this multi-million dollar machine running right, it broke. Multiple underground magnets were destroyed plus expensive microelectronics. This was a devastating blow to the operation breaking the hearts of the physicists. But this didn’t stop them. They repaired the broken equipment and tried again with more success this time.

All in all it was a well-made film. The editing was exquisite and the production on point. The quality of the film was very professional as well which made it nicer to watch. The character development was lacking but it was more about the physics than the physicists, so it worked well to follow the direction the film was going. Not many literary elements were used because the film was about particles not people. All it all it reached a good level of production.

I think the strengths of this film were the cinematography and the topic of the film. The weaknesses were a lack of character development and the physicist’s shyness around the camera. But in the end I think it was a strong film and I highly suggest watching it. It brings you along on the search for the mysterious Higg’s particle.