Math is all around us. It is a fundamental building block of the world we live in and an innate aspect of being human. Yet many, myself included, feel stymied, anxious, or absolutely terrified by mathematics. So, reviewing a documentary about the subject may seem like some sort of self-inflicted punishment, and I thought it might be. Instead, I was privy to a moving and engaging film.

Its main thesis is that everyday life is becoming more math-based, with algorithms shunting us down electronic pathways toward more siloed and curated information; gerrymandering proceeding at a record pace; and more unique jobs requiring skills that come from having a solid understanding of complex mathematical concepts. Unfortunately, according to the film, we are taught math in the United States in such a way that it weeds out those who do not have an instinctual grasp of its concepts. If you can’t get past, say, algebra, you can’t move forward.

Counted Out explains in detail why these issues exist: Students are taught that math is simple problem-solving, but when algebra rears its terrifying head, they are suddenly expected to grasp more abstract thinking. Underserved students tend to get the shaft in terms of funding and time allotted for them to warm up to the subject.

Among those who are spearheading an alternative way of teaching math is Bob Moses, a civil rights activist who runs the Algebra Project. The organization recruits students from the lowest quartile and, by using life experience, such as a walking tour of Miami’s historical sites, builds up their strength until they become strong mathematicians.

A phalanx of experts puts all of this in context. They are passionate, funny, and engaging as they discuss how central math is to democracy and detail how gerrymandering is, when you get down to it, a math problem. Dan Finkel, who runs a group called Math for Love, states that math is “the music of reason.”

There are also entertaining anecdotes, such as the story of World War II planes that were returning with bullets in their fuselage. The Air Force was considering adding extra armor to the fuselage instead of the engines until a mathematician stepped in and stated the obvious. Talithia Williams was told, when her baby was overdue for delivery, that those who don’t undergo a cesarean section are twice as likely to miscarry. Williams, being a statistician, then asked, how many women miscarry per thousand? The answer is surprising.

We follow students on their journey, including a mother of two who was never good at math and thought she was incapable of learning it, and a teenaged student through the above-mentioned Algebra Project. The joy when she and others realize that they can do math is incredibly satisfying.

Director Vicki Abeles moves everything along briskly. She leans into her subjects and allows each person’s story time to breathe. She looks at the issue from so many angles, it is amazing that she comes up with a cogent and potent conclusion on how and why people are being left behind, but she does. If you told me I could be moved by a documentary about mathematics, I would have told you to check yourself for a fever. By the end of Counted Out, I was openly weeping.