Magnificently re-creating a twisted version of the epic classic Swan Lake, Darren Aronofsky conglomerates the two sides of perfection and seduction into one mystified Swan heading down a path of destruction.

Black Swan tells the tale of a cutting-edge ballet dancer, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), hopelessly fighting to reach perfection with every pirouette she twirls. Cast as both the white and black swan, Sayers struggles to capture the essence of the seductively blasé black swan, while perfectly maintaining the image of the innocent white swan. As she strives in a battle to conquer perfection, Sayers begins to leave reality and enter a world of sickly eerie hallucinations.

Portman does a ground-breaking of portraying the utterly neurotic Sayers by maintaining the mentality of a perfectionist always trying to please. The genius of Portman’s fearful expressions, always obsessed with the possibility of rejection, allow the audience to feel her pain as if it was inflicted directly upon them. Even Portman’s soft vocals, captures the image of an innocent child, unable to enter a corrupt world where perfection ceases to exist.

Mila Kunis does a fantastic job playing Sayers’s rival, Lily. Kunis oozes badness, truly capturing the real image of a black swan. As she poses as Sayers’s worst nightmare, Kunis is able to bring the temptress of the black swan into one darkly twisted character.

Aronofsky’s directing truly captures the estrangement of the Nina from the black swan. By revealing Nina in white, the color of purity and innocence, the viewers are able to view her internal struggle to become something she cannot be, while all other characters are clothed in black.

Though Black Swan definitely has its cringe worthy scenes and ridiculously graphic moments that call for some serious gaping, it is unarguably a brilliant film that allows viewers to interpret the true fate of perfection’s calling.