Filmmaker Sarah McCarthy's engrossing documentary captures both the joys and difficulties facing Claudio and Cheryl Diaz—Wisconsin suburbanites with a teen daughter named Cami—who adopt three Russian orphans: 11-year-old Masha and 5-year-old twins Marcel and Vadim. The Dark Matter of Love also looks at the scientific aspects of developing a loving bond between an existing family and children invited into an established home dynamic, as the Diazes hire Dr. Robert Marvin, a developmental psychologist who specializes in techniques that might help in bridging the emotional and cultural gaps that will need to be closed if the six members are to achieve a true familial connection. Marvin's comments are periodically enhanced with black-and-white archival footage illustrating early experiments in parent-child bonding, some of which are chillingly at odds with modern notions of nurturing. But the greater part of the screen time is devoted to following the ups and downs in the Diaz household, ranging from temper tantrums by the boys (often exacerbated by the language barrier), to the tension that develops between Masha and Cami, to the despair felt by Cheryl as she begins to fear that she's taken on more than she can handle. McCarthy successfully transforms what might have been a dry case study into a personal story of courage and growing affection among individuals hailing from very different backgrounds. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
The Dark Matter of Love
Virgil, 93 min., not rated, DVD: $19.99 Volume 30, Issue 2
The Dark Matter of Love
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