Ian Chaney’s The Most Unknown will leave you feeling smarter by evoking a stream of questions you may have never thought to ask before.

The documentary follows nine scientists, all with different backgrounds, as they dig into some of the toughest questions in science. Chaney captures each scientist’s enthusiasm through a refreshing and unique lens. These esoteric topics are made accessible to all audiences and will ignite a new sense of curiosity. A film well worth its 88 minutes, you will walk away with a better understanding of a world much greater than yourself and an eagerness to uncover more of the many wonders left to be discovered in the scientific world.  

The Most Unknown takes you all over the globe. Opening with the first scientist, an American geomicrobiologist takes samples of organisms living in the Frasassi Caves in Italy. By the structure of the documentary, this scientist is then sent to meet an Italian physicist studying dark matter. Their meeting unfolds many similarities between their very different disciplines. We then follow the physicist to Belgium to meet a psychologist studying the human conscience. The film continues in this structure until we meet all nine scientists and learn how each discipline overlaps in similarities and mysteries. This innovative method of sharing science and research through storytelling reveals the grand benefits of collaboration between such diverse disciplines.

From fields ranging from neuroscience to astronomy, not a moment passes that doesn’t leave you awestruck and eager to know more.

Each sequence illustrates a brief summary of the topic every researcher is working on. Although these topics are very complex, with many elements to grasp, each scientist articulates their studies in a simplified and comprehensible way for audiences. The passion each subject has for their discipline lights up their faces as they explain their projects to their fellow scientists. Their excitement and enthusiasm is captivating and brings a jovial tone to the film.

The Most Unknown celebrates science and inspires all minds to question the many wonders left to discover in this world. From fields ranging from neuroscience to astronomy, not a moment passes that doesn’t leave you awestruck and eager to know more.

‘The Most Unknown’ is not rated. 88 minutes. Now playing at select Laemmle theaters.