Black Swan

Name: Black Swan
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: December 3, 2010
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder

2010

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Critics

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 1124 Ratings

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BLACK SWAN

Movie Details & Credits

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: December 3, 2010

Starring: Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder

Summary: Black Swan is a psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet. Featured dancer, Nina, finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company. (Fox Searchlight)

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 108

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Awards & Rankings

44	#44 Best Movie of 2010
6	#6 Most Discussed Movie of 2010
21	#21 Most Shared Movie of 2010

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Premiere - Kristin Hunt

Jan 6, 2011

Just like the final performance by its deeply disturbed heroine, Black Swan is perfect. Read full review

100

New York Magazine (Vulture) - David Edelstein

Dec 6, 2010

This is, no doubt about it, a tour de force, a work that fully lives up to its director's ambitions. Read full review

Arizona Republic - Bill Goodykoontz

Dec 9, 2010

It's all or nothing with Black Swan. Either you embrace its headlong descent into madness brought on by the pressures of artistic perfection, compounded by smothering anxiety, or you reject it. It's that simple. Read full review

Time Out - David Fear

Dec 6, 2010

Both a baroque thriller set in New York's ballet demimonde and a portrait of artistry as schizoid perfectionism, Darren Aronofsky's new film percolates parallel lines of fine madness-but then, doubling down on duality is this movie's raison d'etre. Read full review

New Orleans Times-Picayune - Mike Scott

Dec 17, 2010

Arriving with a savage grace, director Darren Aronofsky's nightmare-come-to-life Black Swan cements his reputation not only as one of the more daring filmmakers of his generation, but also as an actor's director of the first order. Read full review

Boston Globe - Wesley Morris

Dec 6, 2010

Some girls fight over men. Ballerinas fight over parts. But the occasional brilliance of Black Swan is that it's a one-way fight. Nina battles herself. Read full review

Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan

Dec 6, 2010

Not just any kind of trash, it's high-art trash, a kind of "When Tutu Goes Psycho" that so prizes hysteria over sanity that it's worth your life to tell when its characters are hallucinating and when they're not. Read full review

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User Reviews

steve_stiff

Feb 28, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An amazing movie with the best spectacular performance of Natalie Portman. It's another good movie by Aronovsky. Undoubtedly worth seeing. Go to the cinema!… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

jdolan74

Dec 19, 2010

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really feel like Aronofsky has found a happy medium between Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler with his latest masterpiece, Black Swan. He definitely takes his interpretation of Swan Lake and All About Eve to some unique places with the film. And he doesn't feel the need to have to make sense on a practical level, because he is using his chosen medium to express the torment Natalie Portman's character is going through as she prepares for the greatest role of her career. And the film parallels both the stories of Swan Lake and All About Eve's storylines on a metaphorical level that is raw and provocative. I have talked with many people who hated this film and our biggest degree of separation is the fact that I felt this film perfectly conveys what it is to put one's self out there on the stage, and what an actor (or dancer) must do to get to a certain place. They felt that the film's unrealities derailed it from the point it was trying to make. But I don't think a good filmmaker must be constricted by reality when trying to prove a point. An artist must separate themselves from who they are and become what the character demands. Portman's character didn't need to change to be the White Swan. But to be the Black Swan, she had to abandon everything her mother wanted her to be. Which brings me to the relationship between Portman and Barbara Hershey. I personally know girls who have this EXACT relationship with their mothers. I even know a girl who was named after Baryshnikov, who trained as a ballerina as a young girl, but ultimately gave up that dream and she has this exact relationship with HER mother. So needless to say this relationship REALLY spoke to me. The mother wants her daughter to remain innocent and perfect and be the ballerina in the box. But she ultimately becomes the broken and chipped away figurine because that's what life does to us. She has to rebel against her mother, her company, and even herself to find the darkness within that she needs to play this part. And if people don't really believe this is what artists go through, they don't have to look as far back as Van Gogh severing his ear to remember the fates of Heath Ledger and River Phoenix. Some artists who try and tap into the darkness wind up killing themselves in the same way Portman's character slips over the edge. That's why I think this movie is so spectacular, and why Portman deserves the Oscar. Her transformation was flawless. And lovely to watch. And Clint Mansell's hypnotic score ushered us along in perfect sync with Portman's descent. For someone who has enjoyed ballets and operas and theatre in general, Aronfsky has given us a dour tour de force that should satisfy most pallets, whether they can handle the macabre elements or not. I can't wait to see what he does with The Wolverine. Haha.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

immortalwa

Dec 14, 2010

This is one of the best movies made in the past ten years. Its art is mesmerizing. Its entry into the psyche of Portman nearly singularly unique. Its portrayal of the relationships excellent, its moments of tenderness and want, concern and horror, worthy of almost any director. Over theThis is one of the best movies made in the past ten years. Its art is mesmerizing. Its entry into the psyche of Portman nearly singularly unique. Its portrayal of the relationships excellent, its moments of tenderness and want, concern and horror, worthy of almost any director. Over the years, we will see this film grow in stature. Its record twelve Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations are no mistake.… Expand

22 of 31 users found this helpful229

fitchbuck

Jan 22, 2011

Iâ

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

randomdude

Jun 6, 2011

Definitely more a ch... err woman's flik, but I still enjoyed it.

Slow paced, but for a reason, not to milk the clock.

Nuanced performances that satisfied. All around a solid movie, that deserves my 8 and then some.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

juliankleiss

Jan 7, 2011

Warns that inexorable perfectionism may lead to insanity. Picturing two opposite, and problematic extremes of living: safe, or self-destructive; eventually leaving the audience to conclude for themselves, that it would be best to pursue a balanced middle way. Sympathetic character, someWarns that inexorable perfectionism may lead to insanity. Picturing two opposite, and problematic extremes of living: safe, or self-destructive; eventually leaving the audience to conclude for themselves, that it would be best to pursue a balanced middle way. Sympathetic character, some quite shocking moments.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

Jake98

May 29, 2011

Absolute garbage. ...........................................................................................................................................................

1 of 14 users found this helpful113

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