Dan Abel’s review published on Letterboxd:
Nina is an aspiring young dancer. A ballerina who wants nothing more than to be perfect to the point of obsession. She lands her dream gig when she is selected to play The Swan Queen in her dance company's rendition of Swan Lake. It's about this time that she begins to see hallucinations of a brunette version of herself. A version of herself that seems hellbent on being her polar opposite and eventually claiming her spot as The Swan Queen.
Black Swan is the tragic story of a woman so obsessed with being perfect and obtaining her dreams that it drives her down the road to insanity. All the while there's another side of her who is sexually repressed and wants to live a normal life. You can just feel the anxiety as the pressure is continuously cranked up on Nina and that's largely credited not only to the plot but also to Natalie Portman who is exceptional as usual in what might be the best role she's ever played. The CGI FX are hit or miss but that's not important in a film like this. We came for the drama and the psychological stuff.
This is the third Darren Aronofsky film that I've seen, the others being mother! and Requiem for a Dream. It's also the third one that I really enjoyed. Three for three! Black Swan can be a bit slow at times but that is just fine because it never stops building tension to the point where it all inevitably comes crashing down like a sack of hammers and abruptly ends in the best way it can. There's something here for fans of horror, thrillers, and drama. A perfect introductory film to show to to a person who claims they don't like horror films.
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