"natalie-portman"

2010 · Darren Aronofsky · 108 min · Psychological Thriller / Horror

Black Swan is a film that gets under your skin and stays there. Natalie Portman delivers one of the most committed performances of her generation, and Darren Aronofsky wraps her transformation in a claustrophobic visual style that makes the audience feel every crack in Nina's psyche. The ballet world serves as a pressure cooker, and Aronofsky cranks the heat until something breaks. Dancers may object to the portrayal of their art, and the psychological horror elements will strike some viewers as overwrought rather than unsettling. But the film's ability to blur the line between ambition and self-destruction, between perfection and madness, is something very few thrillers achieve.

2018 · Alex Garland · 115 min · Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama

Annihilation is the kind of sci-fi film that trades easy answers for lasting unease. Garland delivers a visually stunning, thematically rich exploration of self-destruction and transformation that builds to one of the most hypnotic finales in recent genre filmmaking. The supporting characters are underdeveloped and the middle stretch drags, but the imagery and ideas stay with you long after the film ends. It's not for everyone, but for the audience it's built for, it's unforgettable.