Film · 2010
Black Swan
A ballerina fights for the lead in Swan Lake and starts losing her grip on what is real.
- Year
- 2010
- Directed by
- Darren Aronofsky
- Starring
- Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Ksenia Solo, Kristina Anapau, Benjamin Millepied, Janet Montgomery
- Running time
- 108 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Original language
- English
- Kind of horror
- Psychological, Body
A ballet company is staging Swan Lake, and one dancer is expected to be both the swan who is pure and the swan who is dangerous. Nina has the first half down perfectly. It is the second half that starts to unravel her.
This is not a film that jumps out at you from behind a door. The fear here creeps in through mirrors, through a rival who might be a friend or might be a warning, and through a body pushed past what it can take. Watch it on a night when you are already a little unsettled, because it will not calm you down.
I would not call it comfort viewing, more a film for when you want your skin to crawl slowly rather than all at once. It earns its reputation the hard way, one small crack at a time, until you are not sure what Nina is seeing and what you are seeing with her. It is the kind of film you talk about afterwards, not during.
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