When I found Dark Matter, a film about a Chinese graduate student in cosmology, I
thought that it would be something that I might like. Not until I watched Dark Matter did I discover that it was based on a tragic true story. It stars Meryl Streep, Ye Liu, and Peng Chi. However, Mery Streep only plays a secondary role in this movie.
Dark Matter follows Liu Xing (Liu Ye), a brilliant student of cosmology from Beijing University. Liu is one of several elite students chosen by the Chinese government to study in the United States. He becomes the protege of Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn), a leading cosmology professor. In letters to his mother, shown toiling as a laborer in grimy industrial settings, Liu writes of his academic triumphs. But as the initially harmonious relationship between him and Reiser begins to sour, Liu, who dreams of winning the Nobel Prize and marrying a blond American, starts telling fantasies.
The unraveling begins when Liu innocently challenges Reiser’s theories about dark matter and the Big Bang theory, foolishly imagining that Reiser will be impressed by his originality of thought. Reiser, offended by what he views as Liu’s disloyalty and feeling his own career threatened by Liu’s radical theories, angrily lectures him about waiting for his turn and being a team player. Then he sets about sabotaging his protege’s future. The consequences are dire.
That is all I will say, but I did see one or two fellow graduate students who, like Liu, were far more intelligent then some of ourr professors. This always creates problems.
I recommend Dark Matter if you like a "dark" drama.