X
  • 2008
  • R
  • First Independent Pictures
  • 1 h 28 m
  • 2008
  • R
  • First Independent Pictures
  • 1 h 28 m

Summary Liu Xing is a Chinese science student pursuing a PhD in the US in the early 1990s. Driven by ambition yet unable to navigate academic politics, Liu Xing is inexorably pushed to the margins of American life until he loses his way. Liu Xing arrives at a big Western university with plans to study the origins of the universe. In the beginnin...

Directed By: Shi-Zheng Chen

Written By: Billy Shebar, Shi-Zheng Chen

  • 2008
  • R
  • First Independent Pictures
  • 1 h 28 m
  • 2008
  • R
  • First Independent Pictures
  • 1 h 28 m
Dark Matter
Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 16 Critic Reviews
49
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 306 User Ratings
8.0
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Liu Xing is a Chinese science student pursuing a PhD in the US in the early 1990s. Driven by ambition yet unable to navigate academic politics, Liu Xing is inexorably pushed to the margins of American life until he loses his way. Liu Xing arrives at a big Western university with plans to study the origins of the universe. In the beginnin...

Directed By: Shi-Zheng Chen

Written By: Billy Shebar, Shi-Zheng Chen

Where to Watch

Top Cast

View All
View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 16 Critic Reviews
49
25% Positive
4 Reviews
63% Mixed
10 Reviews
13% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 16 Critic Reviews
49
25% Positive
4 Reviews
63% Mixed
10 Reviews
13% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
75
The film does a fine job of displaying the contrasts between these tense, formalized Chinese students and the faux populist American academics.
FULL REVIEW
70
First-time director Chen Shi-Zheng shows great sensitivity to the pressure and isolation felt by Chinese brains at American universities, and the relationship between Liu and Quinn provides a rare look at the intellectual serfdom of graduate study.
By J.R. Jones FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 306 User Ratings
8.0
82% Positive
251 Ratings
10% Mixed
30 Ratings
8% Negative
25 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 306 User Ratings
8.0
82% Positive
251 Ratings
10% Mixed
30 Ratings
8% Negative
25 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

60
This is a great film, to a point. Unfortunately the ending doesn't deliver, making the entire feature an exercise is wasted potential. But maybe that's the point.
FULL REVIEW
50
An unsatisfying drama that premiered at Sundance '07 and was supposedly delayed because of the Virginia Tech shootings.
By Lou Lumenick FULL REVIEW
42
Liu Ye is too inexpressive for his role's demands, and the movie doesn't build to his downfall: It just zaps itself there.
FULL REVIEW
40
Dark Matter has neither the technical command of an art-house film nor the manufactured intensity of a grade-B thriller, yet it's also too cheap and dirty to feel like a Hollywood-scale drama.
By Andrew O'Hehir FULL REVIEW
25
If only it weren't based on a true story. It might have been a good movie.
FULL REVIEW
See All 16 Critic Reviews

Details

 View All
Production Company Saltmill, Janet Yang Productions, Myriad Pictures
Release Date Apr 11, 2008
Duration 1 h 28 m
Rating R
Genres
View All Details

Awards

Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

Related Movies

Dekalog (1988)

100
Universal Acclaim

Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

100
Universal Acclaim

Citizen Kane

100
Universal Acclaim

The Godfather

100
Universal Acclaim

Sweet Smell of Success (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

The Conformist

100
Universal Acclaim

Best Kept Secret

100
Universal Acclaim

Boyhood

100
Universal Acclaim

Tokyo Story

100
Universal Acclaim

Fanny and Alexander (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

Lawrence of Arabia (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

The Leopard (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

Voyage to Italy (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

Casablanca

100
Universal Acclaim

Three Colors: Red

100
Universal Acclaim

Notorious

100
Universal Acclaim

Army of Shadows

99
Universal Acclaim

Intolerance

99
Universal Acclaim

Moonlight

99
Universal Acclaim

The Rules of the Game

99
Universal Acclaim

Touch of Evil

99
Universal Acclaim

City Lights

99
Universal Acclaim

Related News

Director Roxanne Benjamin Gender-Flips Gaslighting and Parental Tropes in Horror Film 'There's Something Wrong With the Children'

Director Roxanne Benjamin Gender-Flips Gaslighting and Parental Tropes in Horror Film 'There's Something Wrong With the Children'

Danielle Turchiano

'To me, [the film] was more about the idea of family and what it's supposed to look like,' the director tells Metacritic. 'You might have to fight against that continually until you die.'

  • movies
2023 Critics Choice Awards Winners: From 'Better Call Saul' to 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

2023 Critics Choice Awards Winners: From 'Better Call Saul' to 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

Danielle Turchiano

Find out who took home trophies at the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards.

  • movies
With 'The Drop,' Director Sarah Adina Smith Has Made Her Most Personal Movie Yet — And in a Genre She Never Expected to Work In

With 'The Drop,' Director Sarah Adina Smith Has Made Her Most Personal Movie Yet — And in a Genre She Never Expected to Work In

Sam Rosenberg

The comedy was born out of a conversation between Smith and her DP husband Shaheen Seth about the female equivalent of the protagonist's bad action in 'Force Majeure.'

  • movies
2023 DGA Awards Theatrical Nominations: From Steven Spielberg to John Patton Ford

2023 DGA Awards Theatrical Nominations: From Steven Spielberg to John Patton Ford

Danielle Turchiano

Find out who was nominated for theatrical film DGA Awards in 2023.

  • movies
2023 SAG Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Ozark' Score Big, 'The White Lotus' Switches Categories

2023 SAG Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Ozark' Score Big, 'The White Lotus' Switches Categories

Danielle Turchiano

Find out which actors from film and television earned Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations at the 29th annual celebration.

  • movies