Dark Matter

Aroview: Inspired by real events, this dramatisation of a brilliant Chinese science student's psychological downfall at an Iowan university is a mostly underwhelming, occasionally engaging affair.

The scattershot script unwisely attempts to cover too many bases, spreading thin critiques of Eastern and Western cultures in amongst threadbare sub-plots, resulting in a frustratingly insubstantial explanation of the cumulative effect of thwarted aspirations and stress-inducing expectations on the eager-to-please young student. Despite the under-realised script, Streep's gracious turn as a Chinese culture-loving patron is tenderly convincing, while Quinn's professor is a fine balance of informal joviality and academic egotism.