Of course! If you're yearning for more films that pull you into the dizzying vortex of psychological unraveling like "Black Swan," then grab your popcorn and get ready to question your own reality. Darren Aronofsky's 2010 psychological horror drama about a ballet dancer's descent into madness set a high bar—no pun intended—for stories that explore the shadowy sides of ambition and identity. Below are 15 films that share some DNA with "Black Swan." Prepare to dive deep into the abyss of the human psyche.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)




If you're fascinated by how ambition can consume you whole, like it does to Nina in "Black Swan," then Aronofsky’s own "Requiem for a Dream" is your next stop. It’s like "Black Swan," but swap out the ballet slippers for drug addiction. This film delves deep into the harrowing downward spiral of four individuals destroyed by their obsessions. It’s an equal parts captivating and horrifying experience, but you won't be able to look away.
CAST

Ellen Burstyn

Jared Leto

Jennifer Connelly

Marlon Wayans

Christopher McDonald

Louise Lasser

Marcia Jean Kurtz

Janet Sarno

Suzanne Shepherd
Joanne Gordon
Whiplash (2014)




Imagine Nina trading her ballet shoes for a drum set. "Whiplash" offers a similar study of artistic obsession, where the desire for perfection becomes a self-destructive force. It's like watching Nina's life unfold in a music conservatory, fueled by high-stakes performances and tough love from a relentlessly demanding mentor.
CAST

Miles Teller

J.K. Simmons

Paul Reiser

Melissa Benoist

Austin Stowell

Chris Mulkey

Nate Lang

Charlie Ian

Jayson Blair

Kavita Patil
Fight Club (1999)




Fight Club dives into male vulnerability and societal expectations, serving as a darker, grittier mirror to "Black Swan." If Nina were a disillusioned office worker seeking an outlet for his existential despair, Fight Club would be that outlet. It’s all about the chaos that ensues when you let your darker instincts take the wheel.
CAST

Edward Norton

Brad Pitt

Helena Bonham Carter

Meat Loaf

Jared Leto

Zach Grenier

Holt McCallany

Eion Bailey

Richmond Arquette

David Andrews
Perfect Blue (1998)




Darren Aronofsky has openly admitted to being inspired by "Perfect Blue," and the similarities are apparent. Like Nina, the film's protagonist, a pop singer turned actress, is haunted by a mysterious stalker and her own deteriorating mental state. This anime blurs the line between reality and delusion, much like how "Black Swan" leaves you wondering what's real.
CAST

Junko Iwao

Rica Matsumoto
Shiho Niiyama

Masaaki Okura

Shinpachi Tsuji
Emiko Furukawa

Yosuke Akimoto

Yoku Shioya

Hideyuki Hori

Emi Shinohara
The Wrestler (2008)




Another Aronofsky film that dives into the psyche of a performer, "The Wrestler" shows us a down-and-out professional wrestler facing an identity crisis. Replace tulle skirts with wrestling tights and you have another tale of talent and torment. If Nina’s story moved you, the emotional weight of "The Wrestler" is sure to pin you down.
CAST

Mickey Rourke

Marisa Tomei

Evan Rachel Wood

Mark Margolis

Todd Barry

Wass Stevens

Judah Friedlander
Ernest Miller

Dylan Keith Summers
Tommy Farra
A Beautiful Mind (2001)




"A Beautiful Mind" portrays the life of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician spiraling into schizophrenia. It explores the same themes of brilliance bordering on madness that captivated us in "Black Swan." If Nina had a knack for numbers instead of ballet, her story might resemble Nash's unsettling journey.
CAST

Russell Crowe

Jennifer Connelly

Ed Harris

Paul Bettany

Christopher Plummer

Josh Lucas

Adam Goldberg

Anthony Rapp

Judd Hirsch

Jason Gray-Stanford
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)




If Nina were to survive and stage her life as a Broadway play, it would probably look a lot like "Birdman." This dark comedy takes the themes of ego and artistic expression that "Black Swan" also tackles, and dresses them up in feathers and fame. It's a delightful yet disturbing trip down the rabbit hole of an actor’s fragile ego.
CAST

Michael Keaton

Emma Stone

Zach Galifianakis

Edward Norton

Andrea Riseborough

Amy Ryan

Naomi Watts

Lindsay Duncan

Merritt Wever

Jeremy Shamos
Donnie Darko (2001)




"Black Swan" toys with your perceptions, and "Donnie Darko" does the same but adds a layer of sci-fi eeriness. In this film, a teen navigates a series of strange, potentially apocalyptic events. Much like Nina's reality starts to fracture, so does Donnie’s, except his involves time loops and a scary bunny mask.
CAST

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jena Malone

James Duval

Drew Barrymore

Beth Grant

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Mary McDonnell

Holmes Osborne

Noah Wyle

Katharine Ross
American Psycho (2000)




Take Nina, replace ballet with Wall Street, and you get Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho." Like "Black Swan," the film dives into the depths of a fragmented identity and erupting psychological chaos, albeit with a dash of corporate cynicism and bloody violence.
CAST

Christian Bale

Willem Dafoe

Jared Leto

Josh Lucas

Samantha Mathis

Matt Ross

Bill Sage

Chloë Sevigny

Cara Seymour

Justin Theroux
Shutter Island (2010)




The characters in "Shutter Island" struggle to discern reality from delusion, much like Nina in "Black Swan." Except here, you're not in a ballet studio but a psychiatric facility. Both films lead you down a dark, winding path where you can't trust your own senses.
CAST

Leonardo DiCaprio

Mark Ruffalo

Ben Kingsley

Michelle Williams

Emily Mortimer

Patricia Clarkson

Max von Sydow

Jackie Earle Haley

John Carroll Lynch

Ted Levine
2 degrees of seperation (similar to Shutter Island)














Inception (2010)




The multi-layered dreams in "Inception" mimic the distorted reality that "Black Swan" portrays. Just as you question the solidity of Nina's world, "Inception" makes you second guess what reality actually is. Get ready for a mind-bender that will leave you as disoriented as Nina by the final act.
CAST

Leonardo DiCaprio

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Ken Watanabe

Tom Hardy

Elliot Page

Dileep Rao

Cillian Murphy

Tom Berenger

Marion Cotillard

Pete Postlethwaite
Gone Girl (2014)




"Gone Girl" unravels a dark tale of manipulation and identity, capturing the essence of psychological tension we loved in "Black Swan." Although the stakes are marital instead of artistic, the twists and turns are equally mesmerizing and unsettling.
CAST

Ben Affleck

Rosamund Pike

Carrie Coon

Kim Dickens

Neil Patrick Harris

Tyler Perry

Patrick Fugit

Lisa Banes

David Clennon

Boyd Holbrook
The Others (2001)




Haunted houses and foggy landscapes set the eerie backdrop in "The Others," much like how the ballet studio becomes a breeding ground for Nina's nightmares. This film shares the chilling atmosphere and final twist that leaves you questioning everything, just as "Black Swan" does.
CAST

Nicole Kidman

Christopher Eccleston

Alakina Mann

James Bentley

Fionnula Flanagan

Eric Sykes

Elaine Cassidy

Renée Asherson
Gordon Reid

Keith Allen
Memento (2000)




If you enjoyed piecing together Nina's fractured reality, you'll love the fragmented storytelling in "Memento." Here, the protagonist suffers from short-term memory loss and uses Polaroid photos and tattoos to keep track of his life. It's a narrative jigsaw puzzle that recalls the mental disarray of "Black Swan."
CAST

Guy Pearce

Carrie-Anne Moss

Joe Pantoliano

Mark Boone Junior

Russ Fega

Jorja Fox

Stephen Tobolowsky

Harriet Sansom Harris

Thomas Lennon

Callum Keith Rennie
Mulholland Drive (2001)




David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" is a disorienting, dream-like journey through Hollywood's darker corners. Just like Nina's life becomes a confusing blur of reality and illusion, this film offers a maze of plot twists and identity switches that will leave your head spinning.
CAST

Naomi Watts

Laura Harring

Justin Theroux

Ann Miller

Mark Pellegrino

Robert Forster

Brent Briscoe

Dan Hedaya
More Hidden Gems Similar to Black Swan
These are the lesser-known "hidden gems" that might not pop up in a casual Google search but are must-watches for anyone who savored the psychological twists and turns of "Black Swan." So, if mainstream movies are your typical meat and potatoes, consider these films the truffle mac and cheese of psychological thrillers.
The Perfection (2018)




If you liked watching Nina's career aspirations bring out the worst in her, "The Perfection" serves up a similar plate, but with a dash of revenge. This psychological horror revolves around two cellists engaged in a twisted game of outdoing each other. With surprises that will keep you guessing until the final note, this film is a thrilling journey into ambition gone horribly wrong.
CAST

Allison Williams

Logan Browning

Steven Weber

Alaina Huffman

Glynis Davies

Molly Grace

Milah Thompson

Christina Jastrzembska
Mark Kandborg
Winnie Hung
Suspiria (2018)




What if Nina was in a German dance academy that’s also the front for a coven of witches? That’s "Suspiria" for you. This film takes the dancing element from "Black Swan" and mixes it with supernatural horror. With an artsy and atmospheric flair, this one's a visual and psychological feast.
CAST

Dakota Johnson

Tilda Swinton

Mia Goth

Angela Winkler

Ingrid Caven

Chloë Grace Moretz

Elena Fokina

Sylvie Testud

Renée Soutendijk

Christine Leboutte
Enemy (2013)




Imagine if "Black Swan" focused more on identity confusion than ballet, and you'll have "Enemy." Starring Jake Gyllenhaal in dual roles, this film plays with the doppelgänger concept to explore the male psyche. If you found yourself intrigued by the blurred lines between Nina's personas, "Enemy" will leave you equally bewildered.
CAST

Jake Gyllenhaal

Mélanie Laurent

Sarah Gadon

Isabella Rossellini

Joshua Peace

Tim Post

Kedar Brown

Darryl Dinn

Megan Mane

Misha Highstead
Secret Window (2004)




Replace the ballet stage with a secluded cabin, and Nina with a writer played by Johnny Depp, and you get "Secret Window." It's a story about a writer spiraling into paranoia as he becomes the target of a stalker accusing him of plagiarism. The creeping dread is something fans of "Black Swan" will find eerily familiar.
CAST

Johnny Depp

John Turturro

Maria Bello

Timothy Hutton

Charles S. Dutton

Len Cariou

Joan Heney

John Dunn-Hill

Vlasta Vrana

Matt Holland
Braid (2019)




"Braid" offers another tale of blurred reality, only this time through the lens of childhood friends playing a sadistic game in a dilapidated mansion. Think of it as "Black Swan" meets "Alice in Wonderland," but way more twisted. It’s a surreal journey that will have you questioning what's real.
CAST

Madeline Brewer

Imogen Waterhouse

Sarah Hay

Scott Cohen

Clyde Baldo

Rob Leo Roy
Zack Calhoon
Lenore Wolf

Brad Calcaterra
Zoe Feigelson
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)




If you loved the disturbing, under-the-skin tension of "Black Swan," "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" turns it up to 11. This film involves a surgeon whose perfect life starts to unravel in increasingly horrifying ways. It’s an unsettling and deeply disturbing experience, like "Black Swan" with an additional sprinkling of ancient Greek tragedy.
CAST

Colin Farrell

Nicole Kidman

Barry Keoghan

Raffey Cassidy

Bill Camp

Sunny Suljic

Alicia Silverstone
Herb Caillouet
Barry G. Bernson

Denise Dal Vera
The Good Son (1993)




Long before Macaulay Culkin was setting booby traps in "Home Alone," he was showcasing his darker side in "The Good Son." A psychological thriller about a child’s malevolent nature, it gives you the same unsettling feeling you get from watching Nina's metamorphosis. Instead of ballet, it's a dance of morality and childhood innocence gone awry.
CAST

Macaulay Culkin

Elijah Wood

Wendy Crewson

David Morse

Daniel Hugh Kelly

Jacqueline Brookes

Quinn Culkin

Ashley Crow
Guy Strauss
Keith Brava