Based on a true story, in 1991 a brilliant young Chinese physics student (Liu Ye) comes to America to study the theories of Dark Matter with a legendary astrophysicist (Aidan Quinn). At first, he enjoys the loose, carefree American style of living, the girls, friends, pizza. He also becomes very good friends with a school benefactor (Meryl Streep), a woman who appreciates Chinese culture and supports the exchange students in their transition to life in America. But things take a dark turn when the student expresses a difference of opinion from his professor, and he is shut out politically for his betrayal. Unable to graduate, shunned by his peers and shamed by his family, the story becomes tragic as the young man responds to his emotional pain with tragic results.