Claim: Winona Ryder received award nominations.

Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller-horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky , written by Mark Heyman , Andres Heinz , and John McLaughlin , and starring Natalie Portman , Vincent Cassel , Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder . The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky 's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company . The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan , for which the committed dancer Nina -LRB- Portman -RRB- is a perfect fit , as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan , which are qualities better embodied by the new arrival Lily -LRB- Kunis -RRB- . Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the part , causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into a living nightmare .   Usually described as a psychological thriller , Black Swan can be also interpreted as a metaphor for achieving artistic perfection , with all the psychological and physical challenges one might encounter , i.e. `` the film can be perceived as a poetic metaphor for the birth of an artist , that is , as a visual representation of Nina 's psychic odyssey toward achieving artistic perfection and of the price to be paid for it . ''   Aronofsky conceived the premise by connecting his viewings of a production of Swan Lake with an unrealized screenplay about understudies and the notion of being haunted by a double , similar to the folklore surrounding doppelgängers . Aronofsky cites Fyodor Dostoyevsky 's The Double as another inspiration for the film . The director also considered Black Swan a companion piece to his 2008 film The Wrestler , with both films involving demanding performances for different kinds of art . He and Portman first discussed the project in 2000 , and after a brief attachment to Universal Studios , Black Swan was produced in New York City in 2009 by Fox Searchlight Pictures . Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for several months prior to filming , and notable figures from the ballet world helped with film production to shape the ballet presentation .   The film premiered as the opening film for the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 1 , 2010 . It had a limited release in the United States starting December 3 , 2010 and opened in wide release on December 17 . Black Swan received critical praise upon its release , particularly for Portman 's performance and Aronofsky 's direction , and was a surprise box office success , grossing $ 329 million worldwide . The film received five Academy Award nominations and Portman won Best Actress for the film , as well as many other Best Actress awards in several guilds and festivals . In addition , Aronofsky was nominated for Best Director and the film was nominated for Best Picture . It is the fifth horror film to be nominated in the Best Picture category , following The Exorcist in 1973 , Jaws in 1975 , The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 , and The Sixth Sense in 1999 .