Black Swan (2010)
85%RT Audience Score: 84%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
97 wins & 279 nominations total
Bracingly intense, passionate, and wildly melodramatic, Black Swan glides on Darren Aronofsky’s bold direction — and a bravura performance from Natalie Portman
Black Swan is a wild ride that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about ballet. With a cast that brings the story to life and visuals that will make your head spin, this movie is not for the faint of heart. But if you’re ready to dive into a world of obsession, perfection, and madness, then grab some popcorn and get ready for a hoot of a time. Just don’t forget to breathe.
Production Company(ies)
Vendôme Pictures, Pathé Films, Picture Perfect Federation
Distributor
Fox Searchlight
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
The Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, State University Of New York at Purchase, Purchase, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use
Year of Release
2010
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTSS DDS
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 48m
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Language(s):English, French, Italian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 17, 2010 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 29, 2011
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, produced by Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin, drama, R-rated, box office gross $107.0M, SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, reviewed by Julie and Brandy, Phoenix Danger, Deborah Ross, Caryn James, Candice Frederick, Sean Axmaker, Jason Adams, Aviva Dove-Viebahn, James McMahon, Dustin Chang, Mark Jackson, Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers, Mila Kunis as Lily, Vincent Cassel as Thomas Leroy, Barbara Hershey as Erica Sayers, Winona Ryder as Beth MacIntyre, Benjamin Millepied as David, the Prince
Worldwide gross: $329,398,046
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $447,779,263
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 335
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 48,830,890
US/Canada gross: $106,954,678
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $145,392,747
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 532
US/Canada opening weekend: $1,443,809
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $1,962,694
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,206
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $13,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $17,672,025
Production budget ranking: 1,429
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,516,385
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $420,590,853
ROI to date (est.): 1,547%
ROI ranking: 67
Mila Kunis – Lily, The Black Swan
Vincent Cassel – Thomas Leroy, The Gentleman
Barbara Hershey – Erica Sayers, The Queen
Winona Ryder – Beth MacIntyre, The Dying Swan
Benjamin Millepied – David, The Prince
Director(s)
Darren Aronofsky
Writer(s)
Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz
Producer(s)
Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
97 wins & 279 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (317) | Top Critics (79) | Fresh (269) | Rotten (48)
What were they trying to say? What happened?… You’re all pretending you know what it means.
August 31, 2021
Julie and Brandy
Autostraddle
TOP CRITIC
The impeccable casting adds an elevated element of reality to a film that already hits so close to home.
June 8, 2021
Phoenix Danger
Autostraddle
TOP CRITIC
This is part horror, part thriller, part Freudian nightmare and not a pretty film, as I said, nor an easy watch, but it’s so unexpected and out there and passionate it keeps you with it and involved all the way.
August 30, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
Director Darren Aronofsky’s darkly enthralling entertainment makes the perfect antidote to too many sugary holiday Nutcrackers.
February 7, 2018
Caryn James
Newsday
TOP CRITIC
By the end, Nina’s quest for perfection-and Portman’s blazing performance-will leave you breathless.
October 4, 2017
Caryn James
Marie Claire
TOP CRITIC
Audiences won’t know who to trust and what is real in this terrifyingly great film that will grab hold of you until the final act.
September 9, 2017 | Rating: A
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
‘Red Shoes’ meets ‘Repulsion’ in Darren Aronofsky’s… jittery psychological portrait of neurosis and obsession in a meek, repressed young woman who still has little girl prima ballerina dreams.
July 5, 2022
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
Aronofsky wants you to feel that heroin oozing into your vein, he wants you to feel that barbed wire and glass burrowing under your tights, and here he wants you go right off the deep end with a girl in a tutu
July 2, 2021 | Rating: A
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Black Swan is a top-form thriller-visceral, moving, and stunningly beautiful-but it’s also a film about the darkness our own minds conjure up when we’re overwhelmed by ambition.
June 24, 2021
Aviva Dove-Viebahn
Ms. Magazine
While there are few films that with look and sound as good as this as 2011 plays out, there’ll will be even less that will be so misunderstood. Black Swan is a hoot. A silly, melodramatic hoot.
May 25, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
James McMahon
NME
Black Swan is way over the top (not that his films were ever subtle) in saint/whore dichotomy with bombastic Swan Lake score. But it fits with visceral visuals creating internal chaos in the character.
March 21, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
Director Darren Aronofsky has done an excellent service by showing how art has reached the extreme of a downward demonic trend. Now that we’ve reached that extreme, perhaps, like the yin-yang symbol, things will turn around.
February 20, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Jackson
Epoch Times…
Plot
Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica (Hershey) who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side – a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features a bravura performance from Natalie Portman.
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