49
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxHypnotic, culturally pertinent drama.
- 70Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesFirst-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.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenDark Matter, with its view of cutthroat politics and competing egos inside a university, is also laudable in its refusal to soft-pedal the viciously petty side of the academic fishbowl.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatThis 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.
- 58Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerChen Shi-Zheng, well regarded as an opera and theater director, makes his feature film debut.
- 50VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangNever fully succeeds in burrowing under its protagonist's skin, despite conspicuous effort.
- 50New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickAn unsatisfying drama that premiered at Sundance '07 and was supposedly delayed because of the Virginia Tech shootings.
- 50Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrThe final act of Dark Matter is grim but unconvincing, and the shortfall leaves an ugly, exploitive taste in your mouth.
- 40SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirDark 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.
- 30Village VoiceVillage VoiceFirst-time filmmaker Shi-Zheng Chen shows little aptitude for accurately transcribing the textures of human interaction; there's not a single credible performance here, not excluding Meryl Streep as a faculty Sinophile, doing that thing where she grinds every line through a gauntlet of tremulous inflections.