20 Best Performances In Horror Movies

Darren Aronofsky is an innovative and challenging director, and Black Swan remains his best and most affecting film.

It stars Natalie Portman as ballerina Nina, who gets her dream job when she's cast in a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, but soon begins to crumble under her professional and personal pressures and slowly loses her mind.

Portman won an Oscar for her role, creating one of the rawest portrayals of obsession and mental instability you're ever likely to see on screen.

Nina is seen in a number of different states, ranging from fragile and embattled to passionate and strong, from unpredictable to straight-up terrifying, and Portman embodies every shocking aspect of her character without losing sight of the film's biggest themes.

To call Portman's greatest role a tour de force would sound cliched, and yet it's without question the best phrase to describe her performance here.