Black Swan

(2010)****1/2


Horror films are so often shunned by the academy awards - mostly because 99% of horror films are not nearly good enough to compete. Even when one comes along, like Black Swan, trailers tend to disguise it as a chick flick drama. But make no mistake, Black Swan is straight up horror.


Nina is an OCD ballerina in New York, trying desperately to be perfect and win the coveted role of swan queen in their upcoming production. All the young die-hard ballerinas are doing their best and added to the competition is an irreverent ballerina from San Francisco, Lily, played by Mila Kunis.


Despite being increasingly anxious and nervous about her competition, Nina wins the part of swan queen. However, creepy stuff starts to happen all over the place after that. Nina sees her doppleganger in random places, the portraits her mother paints start to move, and she even has sex with someone who isn't there (not exactly like The Entity, but close).

Furthermore, Nina begins to undergo a physical transformation, becoming literally, more like a swan. Check out the red eyes.

All the visine in the world won't clear this.

As the horror continues, we begin to realize that Nina is just going crazy, and she is doing all of this to herself. The question becomes, how far will she go?

Natalie Portman is amazing in this film. She has made a lot of crap movies lately (I'm looking at you Star Wars prequels), but this one is fantastic. It's weird how when Portman was just a kid, she always played a very mature child as in The Professional and Beautiful Girls. Now that she's 30, she plays an infatilized adult, scared to death of the world she's in. Nina's fragility makes her the perfect horror film victim. Think Laurie Strode if Laurie were to run into a closet and cry.

Oh, and Barbara Hershey plays Nina's OCD ex-ballerina mother. She isn't naked in the movie, but in case you wanted to see this shot again...