Parents' Guide to

Black Swan

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Magnificent, macabre thriller too intense for young teens.

Movie R 2010 110 minutes
Black Swan Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 49 parent reviews

age 14+

Disturbing, Intense Thriller with an outstanding perrformance from Natalie Portman.

Violence: 4/5- Self Harm. Bloody realistic injury detail. Mangled feet, broken nails. A woman stabs another woman with glass, not much blood, but it's present. Stabbing with letter opener, very disturbing. Sexual threat. Sex: 4/5- Quite graphic cunnilingus (oral sex) though no nudity. Intense kissing. Sex references. Sexual threat. Language 4/5- Frequent f**k, shit, damn, slut and whore. Drinking smoking drugs 4/5- Women get high on unspecified drug. Drinking. Role models 0/5- Nina is a dangerous unstable character and the people around her don't help. Her mother is controlling. Her director is a creep. Excellent film, Natalie Portman steals the show.
age 14+

Christian Momma Approves!

I was very weary of watching this movie, but after watching it with my oldest I believe this movie would be appropriate for 14+. I dislike having to turn off the TV when the movies take a turn, but this one surprised me, the only time I thought about turning off the TV was when the main character was having a mental breakdown over trying to be as perfect as possible, this ends up leading her to failure and emotional distress. Furthermore, I believe this movie represents the toil of trying to be perfect with constant pressure overwhelming you, it teaches children and viewers in general that perfection doesn’t equal happiness there were a few sex scenes, but it didn’t show any body parts. Likewise, I wasn’t a big fan of the making out scene but it wasn’t inappropriate to 14+. This movie is very artsy and elegant, and it shows the viewers how important it is to find valence in life. I’m not sure if this is a platitude or a negative but it definitely de-influences ballet, which I have no problem with as a Christian mother of 4

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (49 ):
Kids say (98 ):

BLACK SWAN is danse macabre personified, a grueling, tragic, obsessive and gripping film about a ballerina's quest for perfection at the expense of personality and sanity. Director Darren Aronofsky dances between beauty and blight, juxtaposing familiar ballet images (poised dancers with their lithe limbs and pintucked buns, impossibly balanced on the tips of their pink-shoed toes, silhouetted under the stagelights) with horrific ones (bleeding toenails, bony spines, skin scratched raw). The effect is unsettling, frightening even. Sometimes it all feels a little too much -- thankfully, not often.

The actors are in fine form: Kunis is bold and electrifying; Hershey, disquieting; Cassel, layered. Only Ryder, as a washed-up dancer, wobbles, playing Beth with an assured-yet-predictable touch. But the movie really is Portman's. Her Nina is devastatingly fearful, dispiritingly fragile. She has command of her body but not her mind, and Portman, committed from first pirouette to the final moment, disappears. Only Nina remains. Cue the best actress awards.

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