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Black Swan Review

Movies.com Critics

4.0

Dave White Profile

More loon than swan. Read full review

4.5

Jen Yamato Profile

Cronenberg meets Swan Lake. Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    79

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    The New York Times Manohla Dargis

    Black Swan is visceral and real even while it's one delirious, phantasmagoric freakout.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    USA Today Claudia Puig

    To induce a state of dread and mesmerize with beauty is a rare, paradoxical achievement.

    Read Full Review

  • 30

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    Not just any kind of trash, it's high-art trash, a kind of "When Tutu Goes Psycho" that so prizes hysteria over sanity that it's worth your life to tell when its characters are hallucinating and when they're not.

    Read Full Review

  • 60

    out of 100

    Time Richard Corliss

    Me, I'm of two minds about a movie that wants to be a nail-ripping thriller and a statement on an artist's unholy communion with her role. It's reminiscent of older, better movies.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    Aronofsky blurs the line between reality and fantasy, turning the film into a gothic horror show that is fascinating and disappointing in equal measure. What's resplendently real, though, is the beauty of Ms. Portman's performance. She makes the whole lurid tale worthwhile.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Village Voice J. Hoberman

    A near-irresistible exercise in bravura absurdity, Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan deserves to become a minor classic of heterosexual camp-at the very least, it's the most risible and riotous backstage movie since "Showgirls."

    Read Full Review

  • 83

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Lurid and voluptuous pulp fun, with a sensationalistic fairy-tale allure. You can't take it too seriously, but you can't tear your eyes away from it, either.

    Read Full Review

  • 88

    out of 100

    ReelViews James Berardinelli

    The look and feel of Black Swan, which captures the essence of a major New York ballet production, is one of Aronofsky's great successes.

    Read Full Review

  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    A full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd. It centers on a performance by Natalie Portman that is nothing short of heroic.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    Variety

    A wicked, sexy and ultimately devastating study of a young dancer's all-consuming ambition, Black Swan serves as a fascinating complement to Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," trading the grungy world of a broken-down fighter for the more upscale but no less brutal sphere of professional ballet.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Black Swan reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 16+

Magnificent, macabre thriller too intense for young teens.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this dark gothic thriller centers on a dancer (played by Natalie Portman) who's so obsessed with perfection that she’s obliterated by it. Her pursuit is tragic, filled with self-mutilation and fear -- all of it intense material that may prove too much for younger viewers. Expect many disturbing scenes of mental and physical anguish, some violent fights, and a character who hurts herself and purges -- perhaps in response to the pressures she puts herself under. There's also some swearing (including "f--k" and "s--t"), pill-popping, and a few graphic, sexually-charged scenes (including one with bare breasts and another featuring two women).

  • Families can talk about the messages the movie sends about committing yourself to something. When is focusing on one passion/talent/dream healthy, and when does it go too far?
  • Do the consequences of the characters' behavior in this movie seem realistic? Have you ever seen anything similar happen to anyone you know?
  • Is Nina's relationship to ballet healthy? Does the film unmask anything about the world of ballet?

The good stuff
  • message true0

    Messages: While Nina's dedication could be seen as admirable, it consumes her to the point of destruction. The message may be to find balance, that nothing is worth losing yourself -- not even what appears to be your dream come true. Viewers may also find themselves thinking about the concept that insanity can feed good art -- but is it necessary to make good art?

  • rolemodels true0

    Role models: Nearly everyone is duplicitous, damaged, or manipulative, from Nina’s mother to her choreographer to Nina herself. That said, Nina’s fragility is borne out of her need to tamp down anything that appears unpleasant; she spares others, but not herself.

What to watch for
  • violence false3

    Violence: Characters torture themselves mentally and physically. A character purges and punishes her body with grueling workouts; she also cuts herself. When her mind starts to fall apart, she becomes delusional, sure that her skin is turning reptilian and that there are sharp objects oozing out of her wounds. She throws objects, rips drawings, screams. The movie shows the brutal aspects of ballet, including the injuries -- especially bleeding toenails, mangled feet, and achy bones. A woman is shown stabbing another with a shard of glass; the wound festers.

  • sex false4

    Sex: A woman masturbates; she’s clothed, but it’s clearly implied. A woman performs a sex act on another woman (viewers don’t see body parts, but there’s no mistaking what position they’re in). A woman makes out with a bunch of men in a drugged haze. A man touches a woman’s genitals while he’s teaching her some dance steps; he also forces her to kiss him. Bare breasts are flashed.

  • language false4

    Language: Fairly frequent swearing, including "f--k," "s--t," "pr-ck," "d--k," "p---y," "ass," "oh my God," and "damn."

  • consumerism false0

    Consumerism: Not an issue

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Two young women get drunk at a nightclub. They also pop pills. Another woman, embittered because she has been replaced, causes a scene after getting drunk.

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 4.156
Read all reviews Write a review at Fandango
5

This Movie by jordandepaola
This Movie was extremely good and only had me wanting more. An outstanding cast and crew with no flaws in acting. Natalie Portman is stunning in here potrayl of Nina Seyers and is doubtably the Actress of the year. Mila Kunis plays the perfect opposite to the all psychotic and paranoid Nina. Natalie Portman clearly deserved the Oscar win and the slew of awards that can with it, but Mila Kunis is the one how I honestly thought deserved the nomination more than anybody.

5

by leahypc07

5

by MicahBear78

2

by deitrichp

5

Black Swan review by Bullit_1999
This is a fantastic journey into the mind of a disturbed dancer on the brink of greatness. After watching I felt like I grew as a film buff. Hitchcock would be jealous. You must see this!

5

Another Aronofsky masterpiece. by theredraylives
examiner.com/review/review-the-black-swan

3

by mmmaine

5

Good, but not for everyone by SilverGodYouko
Black Swan was an excellent movie, although a bit disturbing at times. The story follows the young Nina, a ballerina about to make her major debut. Restrained by an overprotective mother who tries to live through her and a coach who will stop at nothing to push his girls to their limits, Nina quickly falls into madness under the pressure to become truly great. Each actor played their role spectacularly and Nina's psychological deterioration is aptly represented by the often erratic presentation of the story. While there are some very explicit scenes in the movie, they accurately represent what can happen to a young woman so much pressure and repression that she can literally snapped. As a former dancer and skater, I have seen first hand the damage that can be done, and Black Swan captures this well, for better or for worse.

Read all Black Swan reviews at Fandango
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