Cinematic insanity

Rating: 9/10 (29 February 2016)

Black Swan tells the story of a ballet dancer who goes on a terrifying descent into madness while facing the pressures of playing the lead of Swan Lake. This is a tough watch and you will need to brace yourself. This terrifying plummet into the abyss is more shocking and frightening than most horror films could ever hope to be, and it examines the dark side of fame and destructive road to greatness far better than most films do. Natalie Portman, as the lead, redeems herself for the Star Wars prequels, while Mila Kunis is surprisingly good as the lead's rival. Darren Aronofsky, who thankfully is on better form than he was when he helmed the slog that was Noah, directs the film brilliantly, and Black Swan manages not to tell the story of the psychological breakdown predictably. Developed characters, thought-provoking themes and a sharp, ferocious screenplay make this not just terrifying, but deeply upsetting as well. Black Swan may lost control of itself a bit towards the end and descend into over-the-top Gothic horror imagery, but this is only a slight misstep and it gets back on form fairly quickly. The story eventually starts to feel slightly rushed, but the finale still delivers an appropriately devastating blow. It's great that this was nominated for lots of awards at the Oscars for it completely deserved the nominations. I personally see this as a horror movie, so it's one of the best, if not the best horror films of the 2010s so far.
9/10