Black Swan is a film about the ballet, adolescence and psychosis. It is a “psychological thriller,” a “suspense thriller,” a “horror movie” and a tragedy. It blends psychological insight with theatrical melodrama, myth with personal story. It depicts a mother/daughter relationship which is loving and protective at the same moment that it is rivalrous and destructive.

The story concerns the adolescent conflicts of a young ballerina, Nina Sayers, who is vying for the starring role in a production of Swan Lake. We are never told her age, but her conflicts are clearly those of a young adolescent. She is torn apart by intense conflicts between ideals of innocence and kindness and sexual and aggressive passions. Her conflict is reified in the form of the twin swan princesses, the innocent White Swan, Continue reading The Horror of Accelerated Adolescence in “Black Swan”