Daron Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological horror film shows us how far one can go to find happiness career wise, and the consequences that follows. Nina, played by Natalie Portman, is a gifted ballerina who works for a ballet company centered in New York. The company plans for their latest production to be a retelling of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and Nina is determined to play the role of both the innocent White Swan and the sensual Black Swan after the artistic director forces the former dancer who played them, Beth, played by Winona Ryder, into retirement. After barely being able to earn herself both roles, and struggling to maintain them with a new dancer, Lily, played by Mila Kunis, who’s abilities rival that of her own, we see Nina’s paranoia and ambition get the better of her as the film unravels.

            To get to where we want to be with our lives and careers in this demanding society, many of us my find ourselves draining ourselves mentally and perhaps even physically for a promotion, a perfect score, or any sort of reward out of our profession and education. Nina is a perfect example of such situation. Living with her obsessive, controlling mother who treats her like a child, Nina starts off as the sweet, innocent persona of the White Swan. She falls into a darker territory as she attempts to perfect her portrayal of the Black Swan.

            The reason why Nina earned both roles in the first place was when the artistic director, Thomas, played by Vincent Cassel, forcibly kisses her, to which she responds by biting him on the lips. He does this another time in the film during rehearsal and even tells Nina to masturbate to better prepare herself for the role. At this point, she begins to see ominous doppelgängers of herself multiple time, representing her darker side taunting and tormenting her as well as slowly but surely taking over her mind. Nina would also see herself slowly growing feathers over her body as if she’s actually turning into a swan, which further indicates how her ambition is driving her sanity further down the drain.

            Previously, we see Beth in the same situation. She is shown in the beginning as aggressive and unstable and later supposedly attempts to commit suicide by throwing herself in front of an incoming vehicle, which permanently injures her legs.

Things only worsen with the introduction of Lily, who’s bound to be her alternative and who she fears is out to replace her. On the night of the performance, and after running away from her controlling mother who insisted that she stay home to recover from one of her mental breakdowns, Nina rushes to the theater, convincing Thomas to allow her to perform, right before Lily is about to portray the two swans. While on break, she encounters Lily in her dressing room and the two proceed to have a physical confrontation, which results in Nina fatally stabbing Lily with a shard of glass. She hides her before performing on stage again. During the next break, Lily shows up to her dressing room to congratulate her, having been a backup dancer all this time. The confrontation never happened, and Nina had actually stabbed herself. The film closes with Nina as the White Swan committing suicide by jumping off a cliff onto a mattress below at the back of the set. She indicates that she is satisfied with her performance before succumbing to her wombs and loosing conscience. It’s unclear whether she survives. It’s also noteworthy that right before her performance, Thomas speaks with Nina in her dressing room, telling her that the only thing in her way is herself.