There are a formidable number of great films this season surrounded by Oscar buzz. There is the highly acclaimed and controversial film The Social Network, about the titanic networking giant, Facebook; the most star-studded and raved-about sci-fi film, Inception; and several worthy others. But undoubtedly the sexiest and darkest of these films is Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, a look into the fragile mind of a young ballet dancer and her struggles to embrace both personalities of the title role of the Swan Queen in the classic ballet "Swan Lake." An exciting and well-made film, it deserves the buzz it has garnered over the past months. However, the general high quality of the film itself cannot mask all of its imperfections, some of which steer the movie into the realm of campy horror rather than artful darkness.

The story centers around Nina Sayers, played by the soft-spoken and unsettling Natalie Portman, a principal dancer of the New York City Ballet. Nina is a quietly dedicated but strong performer vying for the coveted Swan Queen role that has been recently vacated by a veteran of the dance stage, Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder).

Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), the hypersexual director of the NYCB, tells Nina that although she is a strong dancer, she rarely actually performs. Her execution is too restrained by her constant attempt to be technically perfect. She cannot release the dark sexual passion required of the role that gives the Black Swan such power and beauty. Thomas compares her frigidity with the wilder nature of a newcomer to the Ballet, Lily, played by the sassy and wiry Mila Kunis.

At Thomas' prompt to start rethinking the way she approaches the role, Nina starts to experiment with the dark and hedonistic side of life, with Lily leading the way. But as her obsession with exploring the role deepens, she begins to become paranoid, thinking that Lily, who was named her understudy, is after her. She is thrown into the terrifying world of her own delusions and suffers the hazards that follow.

Portman's portrayal of the shy and confidence-lacking Nina is astounding. Her tiny frame, even tinier since her weight loss for the role, is perfect for creating a believable dancer's physique, and her quiet stutter make her transformation all the more intense.

She is treated as a child by her overbearing mother, and she acts like a child in situations that are difficult to handle. Portman takes all of the facets of Nina's personality, dramatizes each timid movement and each quiet whisper, and she turns the "uncertain Nina" on her head, while remaining believable all the while.

Black Swan's palette of colors seems to be slightly desaturated, with all of the exposition scenes devoid of most bright colors and hues. However, during the final scene of Nina's performance as the Swan Queen, the stage is lit up with magentas and oranges and the fire of the Black Swan's passion enflames the entire palette of the film. Exciting and moving, Portman dazzles till the end.

Some issues, however, hinder the film's smooth sailing into Oscar history. Occasional scenes, meant to send goosebumps through the skin, are just overly melodramatic and scoff-inducing. Nina's rage before her first performance as the Swan Queen, far from being moving and believable, turns into something eyebrow-raising and almost laughable. Some moments, like the possessed mirror reflection, are familiar horror-movie tactics, while others, like a sudden appearance of a pale, haunting figure in the corner, bring The Blair Witch Project into mind. A thriller doesn't always have to include elements of horror movies, and Black Swan certainly could have done without its share of horror movie clichés.

That being said, Black Swan is still an intense and heart-pounding movie, combining the beauty and artistic elements of both film and ballet into one. Aronofsky masterfully highlights the beauty of ballet in his film without forgetting the strengths of his proper medium, using intimate close-ups to create vulnerability and frantic camera work to mimic Nina's mental degradation. A strong, leading cast rounds out the film with real human experience and Black Swan draws all into its world of beautiful ballet, erotic themes and haunting secrets.