Even the pink stuffed animals that adorn the bedroom she shares with her neurotic mother seem to come alive and mock her. In visual hallucinations, she sees a black-clad version of herself across the subway platform and again in the maze of hallways at Lincoln Center. But she has competition in new sexually open dancer Lily, played by Mila Kunis.Īfter securing the role, Nina is asked to 'lose herself' to play the black swan, and so she does. When the ballet's artistic director decides to replace the aging prima ballerina for the new season production of 'Swan Lake,' Nina is his first choice. They live in a tiny New York City apartment, cluttered with her mother's narcissistic paintings. Nina, who constantly strives for perfection, lives with her controlling mother Erica, played by Barbara Hershey, who gave up dance to have her daughter. 'What was a hallucination and what was real? When people are psychotic, it's difficult, even as a therapist, to know what's real and what's not.'

'It was intense and disturbing and fascinating and mysterious,' said Nadine Kaslow, vice-chair of the department of psychiatry at Emory University and psychologist to the Atlanta Ballet.

My dr put neurosis in my medical chart