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Pretty sure the entire rivalry was in her head. Nina never intended to take her place, her paranoia/obsession just made her feel that way. Until she eventually stabbed „Lily“ (herself). So much symbolism for mental illness in this movie. So brilliant!

“I felt it…perfect. It was perfect.” That chilling line at the end of that roller coaster film…ugh it buttons up so many amazing themes so well, god it’s such a great movie.

The thing with the mom is that she was kinda jealous of her daughter I think. The mother had to stop dancing because she got pregnant, but she also never got pass the ballet corps (basically the back up dancers) while Nina was able to become a soloist and even get a big role like the Swan Queen.

the whole thing with the cake is 1. nina most likely has an eating disorder which is very common in the ballet world. that’s part of her pursuit of perfection. the perfect body in ballet is considered extremely petite. the ED is also a form of self harm. she demonstrates other destructive behaviors like picking at her skin and just generally pushing her body to its limit 2. nina’s mother is also an overbearing control freak and it’s implied she’s abusive which is why nina has such a frail, childlike demeanor and gets called “sweet girl” despite being an adult. yes her whole life is definitely creepy. the room and ESPECIALLY the mom. so glad you guys liked this one!

As a former ballerina and someone whose favorite ballet is Swan Lake, this movie is a trip. To me, Swan Lake is one of the most beautiful and tragic ballets ever written because it’s about a girl who is turned into a swan (the white swan) and is a swan by day but a young woman again by night, and the curse can only be broken when a man professes his love to her. She finds a Prince who falls in love with her, but the sorcerer who put the curse on her doesn’t like that so he sent his daughter (the black swan) after the Prince and she has had a spell put on her so she looks like the white swan so as to trick him. The Prince professes his love to the black swan, breaking the white swan’s heart and she ends up killing herself (in some tellings of the story but not in all). The movie mimics that storyline through Nina but in a dark and twisted way. Ultimately it comes down to the price of perfection, and what Nina is willing to do to become perfect. She obviously struggles with some sort of mental illness, but it is her obsession with perfection that will be her demise. I’ve seen many people compare Nina’s story to that of the Prince within certain versions of the Swan Lake story, someone who has been haunted by the dreams of a black swan but at his core is connected to the white swan. But in the end, those dreams he had draw him to the black swan. Even though he’s being tricked, he still confesses his love for a girl who is clearly different from the one he thought he fell in love with. Just like Nina is having these visions of the darker version of herself (the black swan that is haunting her), most likely due to having to suppress that side of her because of her mom as well as her own obsession with perfection. But throughout the movie, even though she is manipulated by the people around her (like Thomas who kind of represents the evil sorcerer (who is the dark black creepy bird looking character u guys kept seeing)) as well as manipulated by her mind that is betraying her with these hallucinations, she chooses to embrace that darker side of herself and that leads to her pain and suffering but gives her the perfection she wanted so badly. Idk if it was intentional for her story to mimic elements of the Prince’s, but I think it’s a cool comparison. I completely understand u guys being confused and not catching on to some of the meaning, because I do think a lot of it is connected to Swan Lake itself as well as just being in the arts and striving for perfection like Rob said. It’s just crazy to me how they were able to turn such a beautiful story and display of artistry into something so dark and twisted, it’s brilliant. There’s definitely a lot more to it, on a filmmaking and psychological level than what I’m explaining (like I know there’s a lot of meaning behind the use of mirrors/reflections and why Nina stabbed herself with a shard of glass), but I thought I’d just share some of the connections to the actual Swan Lake story that are within the movie.

I said it once and I'll say it again but I genuinely feel that Nina's dark side is her womanhood and her white swan side is her girlhood, the horrifying transition to girlhood and womanhood. While being so repressed by her mother, her mother keeping her in such a childlike state and when Nina has the confidence to confront that one guy for the role she is kissed without her consent and preyed upon by an older man. I feel like it's the reality for many young girls with terrifying experiences while transition from girlhood to womanhood and also the relationship between one's self and their parent figure. Nina deals with a lot of conflict within because she continuously tries to people please so no one gets hurt but Ultimately hurts everyone else most importantly the most consistent and important figure in her life, her mother, to feel a sense of freedom and individuality.

I think this was all in Nina's head. I always thought that Nina was SO repressed by her mother and the ballet world that when she had the chance to actually explore her “dark side” with the Swan Queen role and meeting Lily, who is probably someone she wanted to be. Carefree, confident and still a fantastic dancer. All this freaked her out and she fought against it. So in the dressing room scene, she was literally fighting with herself of who she is and who she wants to be.

as someone who was formally a professional ballet dancer, a lot of the issues presented in his film are quite real. whilst a lot of this is in nina's head and overexaggerated for the horror, things like the stress itching, not eating, being forced to keep dancing and dancing and unfortunately being touched inappropriately (although not nearly as bad as in this but i have known others to have very bad experiences at some point) are real in the ballet world. this film is greatly written using the story of black swan as a backdrop, and projecting the characters from the ballet onto the cast. ballet is highly competitive and can be very very stressful which this film plays heavily on - nina is her own demon, she is in the way of herself from being 'perfect' she has to remove herself to become that, hence killing herself in the end.

When I saw Black Swan won the poll on patreon I was so EXCITED because not only is the movie entertaining but so would have been your guys reactions because of the movie and how trippy it is and it was definitely not a let down lol. That's how it usually is for a psychological thriller like this movie. It'll just be your interpretations of what you got from the movie to be able to understand it. Bryce was spot on about it, it's basically Nina battling her girlhood and womanhood. Hence the white and black swan. There were also other symbolism in the movie like how Rob mentioned how it is for theatre/performing kids and what they have to do to build and perfect their craft and the toll it can take.

Her dying to the cheers of the crowd is everything!!! 👏👏👏👏 I like the struggle of perfection and how destructive it can be

There were a LOT of theories about her mother sexually abusing her her entire life. When you watch the movie thinking that, you definitely begin to wonder...

I think Nina is supposed to be a version of the "Obsessed Artist who loses their sanity in pursuit of perfection in their craft." As the Black Swan, she can finally let go of the rigorous life the people around her (mother and teacher) have made for her.

Natalie Portman took home the Oscar for Best Actress in this movie! It was nominated for 5 other Oscars including Best Picture but lost to The King's Speech.

idk if someone already mentioned it, but this film is heavily inspired by the anime movie "Perfect Blue" by Satoshi Kon. I'd love to see you guys react to that!

Yeah she was just losing it the whole time. The body harm, the jealousy, all of it. It takes a few rewatches but she wanted to be lily, and I think she was in love with her too. Her mother was abusive and some say sexual abuse too esp after she had her sexual awakening with dream lily she said sweet girl like her mom always says, then she sees herself going down on her.. it’s the hugest head trip. Also did you catch lily saying oh toma probably calls all his stars sweet girl, and it’s a confirmation at the end as he calls her sweet girl like the rest .

“What’s she doing?” “Acting”😂😂

This is a good movie about obsession. You can give a try to Whiplash, another one about the same topic, not so psychological though.

I deeply appreciate Rob's visible dismay when Lily kissed Director Douchebag at the end. I was baffled when I watched the movie. Just sitting there like, "Wait, was she attracted to him this whole time? Were _we_ supposed to find him attractive?!"

Dude on the left was the teachers hype man the whole vid lmfao

"Mom's gonna be sleeping on the toilet" made me bust out laughing hahaha

Nina's mother is the epitome of creepy & sad.

It was all in her head. There was never any rivalry, it was her own insecurities and inner demons that created a world in her mind where she thought that the rivalry existed.

Lol the guy in the middles side eye to the guy on his right 😅😅

The movie is pretty easy to understand on a second watch. Essentially, none of it was "in her head". She just has a form of dissociative disorder where she kept seeing her other personality, the black swan, do things. And she could interact with her. The "black swan nina" was switching places with her at certain times, and it embodied all the things that she thought were "bad". The skin picking, the lashing out, the sexuality, the eating, the anger. The Black Swan personality of hers could also morph to look like anyone else. So everything was real, the kissing, the stabbing, the hitting the mother. It's just she stabbed the black swan, herself. Her having sex with Mila was the Black Swan. And they usually showed when someone was the Black Swan because that person's face would flash Nina's own face. Her Black Swan would take on the dark attributes of those around her as she saw it as the opposite of herself. The mother is a little less firm of a thing. She's a "good mother". Everything she said was actually right. She really was sick, probably had prior diagnosis and all. But she was also abusive, she'd push all her pressure into Nina and then would act all, "Oh no poor you" after. And it's heavily implied she might have also sexually abused Nina. Beth is a bit more muddled. Nina was a white swan that saw Beth as the perfect balance of white and black, and then she started hearing about how Beth was actually crazy and dark, so she slowly coveted the Black Swan within Beth. She stole her things to become more like her. Her Black Swan personality saw itself in Beth. It's high probable that she went to the hospital, Beth stabbed herself out of panic, and embodied the black swan, and Nina actually finished her off as the Black Swan fully transferred over to Nina, hence why the file is in Nina's hand in the end. She tried to give the black swan back because she was scared, and it basically said it was here to stay. She then fixated on Mila and saw her as a possible Black Swan. So her black swan started taking her form now. To Mila she just went out with her one night, was told she was the principle dancer cuz Nina was sick, and then lost the part. That's it. In the end you're left with the feeling of wonder, was Nina actually the White Swan? And the blackness in her was a disease, a mental breakdown. Or was she truly the Black Swan, and the white was a mask. Or is it that there's a black under the white, under the black, under the white towards forever? Did the sleazeball director pull the Black Swan from within her? Or did he manipulate her into letting the Black Swan in? Did she see the darkness within others? Or was her Black Swan just responding to theirs. The movie is largely about choice and consent. She was fully controlled at home by her mother. At work by the director. In love by those around her. And then she struggled with what the Black Swan would do around her, and if that was maybe really her. Her Black Swan stabbed her and danced the first part. Then it finally got its dance and "left". And only her White Swan was left and she made the decision to dance, where she found that death is the only place she'd finally know peace.

Love this movie. 🖤 That last scene is so beautifully shot. The part where it focuses on her eyes gets me everytime.

"what's she doing?" "acting"😭😭

Not the guy on the left condoning all the abusive behavior from the choreographer. He got on ma nerves

Natalie deserved the oscar she got from this movie. such an amazing performance. one of my favorite movies

It does help if you know Swan Lake going in, as the same ballerina plays Odette/Odile (white/black, swans) and before this movie, it was a well known fact it is extremely hard for even the greatest ballerinas to do both parts well. The creepy horned guy in her visions is Von Rothbart, who turned Odette into a swan in the ballet and who controls her life (Thomas is definitely his double). The black swan is Odile, Von Rothbart's daughter, made to look like Odette's double (get it?), to trick the prince into declaring his love for her, which dooms her to forever be a swan. Then Odette does kill herself to break Von Rothbart's spell on her. See how much the plot of Black Swan really is the plot of the ballet?

Also the skin picking is an OCD type known as excoriation. A lot of times goes hand in glove with trichotillomania, which is hair pulling. I've got trich and minor exco, and it sucks, but it's manageable. Not so much with the pushy shitty methods the mom was using. I wouldn't call mom a good person, imo. She probably thinks she loves her daughter, but some parents don't understand how oppressive and damaging their possessive, overbearing paternalism can be.

The guy on the left is such a creep

and yes the instructor is a creep period it’s super inappropriate to come onto an employee in your company

So glad your reacting to this film I love Darren Aronofsky as a director and this film is my favourite from him the symbolism and and evolution of Nina’s downfall is so well done in terms of direction and of course with a stunning performance by Natalie Portman rightfully that she won a best actress Oscar for a true piece of art this movie is and I cannot wait for his next film the whale which is going to be starring Brendan fraser and Sadie sink

"It's MY turn!!" Totally iconic. Awesome film and your reactions were great fun.. XO

The one guy thinking the dance instructors behavior is ok 😬

i think this is like method acting where you embody everything and become the character you're playing and it became perfect because she lived the whole play with body and mind

Nina was both Odette and Odile, The Prince was her ideals and the Evil Sorcerer was her situation. Through out the entire movie there are hints and symbolism that tell you what's going to happen before it happens, even the dialogue Thomas gives during the practice on stage when she jumps the first-time mirrors the ending, every time Nina saw someone with her face it was her repressed side the "Black Swan" you can hear the sound of feathers or wings in the background that slowly get louder as she leans into her other side.

"I've seen better performances" poor Nina, why do you have to tell her that? 😂🤣

Not sure if someone mentioned this already, but her performance before her death is ironic. Because a "Swan Song" is known as a final performance for a dancer before retirement. Only this took a more cryptic, literal turn.

When she stabbed herself she basically killed the white swan side of her. Thats why she fell during the actual white swan dance because at that point, the black swan was in control opposed to her pratice before because she had that dance to a T. She didnt struggle with the black swan dance because she fully embraced it.

For some reason this is my comfort movie😭

Y'all reaction to her pulling off her finger nail was classic 🤣🤣🤣... Yes It really was an insane movie when it was released!

Darren is deeply fascinated with a true artist’s commitment to their craft, even if that commitment destroys them at the end. Both The Wrestler and Black Swan are essentially about the same thing.

one of my favorite things about the ending scene is instead of the screen fading to black insinuating ninas death, it fades to white symbolizing her as being re-born

it’s so funny how you mention inception because black swan and inception are both inspired by the same anime creator! his name is satoshi kon. black swan is inspired by perfect blue and inception is paprika

Idk if it's ever been confirmed but the way I see it, I think Nina's mom was sexually abusing her and the whole Nina/Lily sex scene was actually Nina's mom :( She calls her "sweet girl" which is what her mom calls her, doesn't acknowledge her at all during the entire fight when they get back home, and Nina confirms she wasn't there the next day, but the door stopper was moved... Not to mention her weird obsession with Nina thru the countless paintings of her she's made, idk there might be more and i'm p sure I read more about it somewhere but yeah, this is a great movie that is for sure one of my favourites!!!

All your expressions during the "homework assignment" scene in the bedroom when the mom appeared were amazing

Your reactions did not disappoint 🤣

nothing to say other than this movie reignited my obsession with ballet & classical music and that i think about it everyday🚶

This is one of the few movies that I don't regret not watching in a theater lol

Great reaction! I loved the way you all freaked out and couldn’t look at the skin picking 🤣🤣🤣🤣👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

One of my all time top 5 favorites. Rewatched it several times and everytime I notice something new

This is one of my fave film! Also, the movie Whiplash has the same formula of obsession with perfection turned to insanity! Also, a really great film!

Your movie & series choices lately have been sooooo good! Keep it uuup!

I saw someone say that the mom basically m*lested Nina hence the scene where the door blocker was not in place. She was overly protective too so.

This video should be a drinking game! every time someone says "What?" or something similar you take a shot! hahah amazing reaction guys!

Man is my timing perfect 🤩 I just got home from picking up some food and now a new movie reaction video is up 💛 the stars lined up perfectly for this one 🌟 💛

Stumbled upon your page yesterday and have been binging your videos ever since. And yes, I pushed that *subscribe* button. 😊

Fun Fact: The way that the director and the art director really put efforts to create incredible scenarios that follow what goes on between the characters, and when perceived, they started to turn into a very important piece in the roll. For example, all scenes with Nina's mother are incorporated by the color green, which by the colorimetry of cinema is usually linked to corruption, the dangerous and the sinister. On the other hand, all scenes in which Nina (before incorporating the black swan) appears are accompanied by the color pink, it can mean innocence, sweetness, femininity and beauty, and whenever Nina is caught in a green room alone something strange is going to happen. Other examples are the choose on white clothing for Nina and black to others in the cast, specifically Nina’s mother. This film is such a masterpiece, going to watch again someday, try to catch some facts that probably slipped through my perspective.

This movie is a masterpiece, I usually end up forgetting most of the movies I watch but this one truly got me in the feels and I love the dark, horror and psychological genre they went for it.

I seriously cannot get enough of you guys!! Every video is amazing and every time you post a new one I can’t wait to sit down, watch, and laugh with you guys!

its hinted that her mom may have groomed/ SA'd nina plus her being a helicopter parent to a grown woman cuz she lives vicariously thru her

i had the most amazing time watching you guys freak out over some of these scenes lmao. fun fact the guy Natalie portman was dancing with is actually her husband they met here on the movie set

to the dude on the left: please be more mindful of your comments on blatant sexual harassment. i know you might think “obviously i know it’s wrong” but it’s not obvious when many people really do think in that twisted way. already an uncomfortable movie, don’t need more discomfort.

This film is so interesting. The guy in the cap at the far end is gorgeous, and reminds me of Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula, in that he has incredibly hypnotic eyes,. Happy New Year x

Why is Rob so headstrong on thinking the guy is doing it for the art to get her good💀 he’s like repeatedly assaulting her

10:28 Accurate; the bite was the moment of spontaneity he was looking for 🤷🏾‍♂️😂💯

Factoid: The guy dancing with Portman/Nina becomes the actress's husband (in real life).

Aronofsky makes some super uncomfortable sort of movies, but they're brilliant. The one movie that made me the most uncomfortable was Mother! It's worth a watch and crazy 😅 but full of symbolism. It's hard to figure out and makes you think, which is fun, but it's also extremely uncomfortable in weird ways 🙃

OMG I NEVER THOUGHT YOUD WATCH AND REACT TO THIS... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

This movie is sooo good! Cool to see you guy’s reactions to it

Nina only wanted to be perfect and she reached the perfection. There is nothing more perfect than death, and there is nothing beyond perfection. She knew the cost and she payed it cause at end she would finally feel what perfection is. Nina was perfect.

"I thought it was about Lady Gaga" "No, that's A Star is Born'" I cackledddd

For sure that kiss changed his mind, that was the whole point of what he wanted.

I remember back in January of 2011, my friend and I went to see this at the theater, had lunch, then went back to the theater and saw Blue Valentine (the second most depressing movie I’ve ever seen after Precious). That was one fucking heavy and brutal day of movie watching!

You know what I just realized. At the end Nina says “It was perfect” but it wasn’t. She totally fell when the guy dropped her. I think her ballet performance was great but I imagine a ballet critic would point that out in their review.

Saw this in the movie theater when it first came out and I was shookth 😩😂

Don't give me a woody before he go's on stage. Oh guys had me crying with laughter

OMG!!!!!! I LOVE this movie and I LOVE your reactions!

I think this movie was a good portrayal of the real dance world. It's kind of brutal. I was a dancer in college for my college dance theatre and a semi pro sports team. I barely even touched the processional world of dance but people are mean. What you see on the show Dance Mom's isn't that far from reality. I can't even imagine how competitive and dehumanizing professional ballet would be. But the scariest part of this movie was the weird relationship with her mother, I felt like it had an undertone of SA. If not that there was at the least manipulation and mental abuse happening.

I think there's an interesting parallel between their names. Nina. Lily. Both four letters, alternating mirrored consonants with an i in between. Lily is her dark doppelganger. The actual flesh-and-blood Lily is just a back up dancer. The Lily we see most of the time is Nina's projection of her psychotic break, externalized. The retiring prima ballerina being hit by a car is almost certainly either Nina going into a fugue state and pushing her into traffic, or another example of how the high stress of perfectionism has also ruined this woman to the point she tries to kill herself rather than retire.

This movie is a favorite of mine! Glad y’all watched!

Remember when Zuff used to say “let’s dig in” before every video 😂😂

THE CHARLIE BIT ME REFERENCE STOP LOL!!!!!

Bryce: “ you sound like you should be the teacher Z” PLSSS that was so funny 😂

Omg y’all should 100% do whiplash now same concept on the obsessed artist and it’s such a good movie

I think the whole movie is a metaphor for how some kill for perfection. Nina was definitely unstable, with her scratching it showed her history of self harm. Once placed under the pressure, she broke.

Natalie and the Director of the movie comfirm that she didin't die

I think it was stress, OCD and probably an eating disorder that lead to a psychotic episode.

32:12 bryce’s lowercase scream 😂

One of the coolest things I noticed is that there's a lackluster "death" scene earlier in practice...but in the end she kills it-because she is dying. The white swan was literally dying in the story...and the pure part of her/her perfectionism died in the end. Very poetic.

You guys are hilarious! LOOLOLL! Great reaction to an even greater movie - sub'bed!

So funny that Zuff was right almost thr whole time and just 2nd guessed himself the whole way. 😆

This movie is amazing! A proper mind fuck with an unreliable narrator. It gets better on every rewatch. I first saw this when I was like 14/15 I went to the cinema to see it with my friend and us being young teens we would die laughing at some of the more awkward scenes 🤣

Finnnneeee, I clicked the button. Lol I'm subscribed. ❤️

been waiting for this !!!

The movie of the fight for perfection. Beautifully done

you guys should watch Donnie Darko

You guys should watch *The Devil Wears Prada* and *Whiplash!* They have the same premise as Black Swan: people overworking themselves and going a little crazy to achieve a dream that is not promised. 😵‍💫🥴