98 Best Thrillers Of All Time Ranked
By Daniel Kim
If you don't like ballet, "Black Swan" might change your mind. The same is true, however, if you do like ballet, because in this movie, it drives people insane. The film centers around the pressure of the competitive world of dance and the havoc it can wreak on participants' sanity: The ballet in question, Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake," is notorious for requiring one ballerina to play both the pure and delicate White Swan and the darker Black Swan.
In "Black Swan," devoted dancer Nina, who captures the White Swan perfectly, struggles to cope with the pressure when another dancer, Lily, arrives and demonstrates a better fit for the Black Swan. This sets the stage for tantalizing elements of psychological horror drawn from folklore about doppelgängers.
Starring: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Year: 2010
Runtime: 108 minutes
Rating: R
