Darren Aronofsky's twisted take on Swan Lake gives an entirely new meaning to the term; "play through the pain". As he did with The Wrestler, Aronofsky delves into the mind of a professional athlete only instead of using wrestling as a backdrop, competitive ballet is the name of the game. A brilliant Natalie Portman carries the weight of the film on her shoulders as Nina Sayers, an ambitious but somewhat guarded dancer who only stands the chance of winning the role of a lifetime if she can get in touch with her dark side. An unlikely friendship with a fellow dancer (played by a lovely Mila Kunis) opens Nina's eyes but will constant advancements made by a determined (and somewhat abrasive) choreographer/director (played by Vincent Cassel) and never-ending meddling from her overbearing mother (played by Barbara Hershey) hold her back? There's a fine line between high art and high camp and Black Swan straddles that line ever so delicately. Aronofsky appears to be channeling Roman Polanski here (think Rosemary's Baby). Black Swan is a multi-layered thriller and it deftly fuses drama, humor and horror, and tops it off with a fierce, sexual charge. As Nina pushes further and harder in a quest to transform herself, she begins having strange visions. Are these visions real or are they in her head? We get an answer but not before witnessing the sheer pain this athlete must endure on her long, arduous road to success. Black Swan offers up a lot to think about. Its a story about how far one might go for their art, but it touches on a wide range of other themes as well. And while their certainly are some weird happenings to be found in this offbeat thriller, I was hypnotized every step of the way.