Liu Xing je kitajski študent, ki si je vedno želel raziskovati teorije o izvoru vesolja. Želja se mu uresniči, ko ga sprejmejo na ameriško univerzo. Tam postane član raziskovalnega kluba uglednega profesorja Jacoba Reiserja. Liu si najde skromno stanovanje, ki si ga deli z drugimi kitajskimi študenti. Zagleda se tudi v natakarico v bližnji kavarni. Poleg tega pritegne pozornost premožne Joanne Silver, ki je pripravljena finančno podpreti njegove raziskave. Ko pa se njegove teorije začnejo čedalje bolj oddaljevati od Reiserjevih začetnih teorij, se fant znajde v nemilosti svojega mentorja in ostalih kolegov. Film s tragičnim koncem je posnet po resničnih dogodkih.
Liu Xing is a scholarship boy from China, newly arrived in Salt Lake City, a graduate student in cosmology, in Utah to study in Professor Reiser's prestigious program. Back in China, Liu Xing's parents are proud of him, and he dedicates himself to fulfilling their hopes. All the graduate students in the program work on projects that extend and further Reiser's model of the origins of the universe. Liu Xing does well until his own theories move him away from Reiser's. Will Reiser and the department recognize Liu Xing's brilliance? Can the young man's benefactor, Joanna Silver, intercede?