Sex, Lies and Ballet: Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan

My review of Aronofsky's thriller Black Swan, opening on Friday, is up over at the Ms. Blog. Here's an excerpt and the trailer:

From now on, when someone claims that they were on the “edge of their seat,” I will always think of director Darren Aronofsky’s newest film, Black Swan, opening nationwide December 3. By the time the credits rolled, my hands were sore from gripping the armrests and my body protested with audible pops as I stood to exit the theater.

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. Aronofsky, whose other recent films (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream) evidence a similar fascination with the intense humanity and obsessive desires of his characters, brings us, with Black Swan, a powerful and poignant glimpse into the fever dream of a perfectionist ballerina. However, there are moments when his narrative falters and when it feels like the director’s pandering to a mainstream audience that may not actually need to be seduced.

Read the rest here.