Since the trailer debuted online, there have been high expectations regarding Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. The film just debuted at the Venice Film Festival last night and has gotten some overwhelmingly positive reviews. To give you a sense of what the critics have been saying here’s an excerpt from a review from Variety’s Peter DeBurge:

“A wicked, sexy and ultimately devastating study of a young dancer’s all-consuming ambition, “Black Swan” serves as a fascinating complement to Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” trading the grungy world of a broken-down fighter for the more upscale but no less brutal sphere of professional ballet”

For the most part the other reviews are pretty glowing as well. Aronofsky’s films have never been short of praise. From The Wrestler to Requiem for a Dream, he’s been making interesting films long enough to gain respect in Hollywood.  For more exerts from the films early reviews, hit the jump.

Kirk Honeycutt from The Hollywood Reporter:

“Swan” is an instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is what’s so good about it. You might howl at the sheer audacity of mixing mental illness with the body-fatiguing, mind-numbing rigors of ballet, but its lurid imagery and a hellcat competition between two rival dancers is pretty irresistible. Certain to divide audiences, “Swan” won’t lack for controversy, but will any of this build an audience? Don’t bet against it.

Todd McCarthy from Indiewire:

As a sensory experience for the eyes and ears, “Black Swan” provides bountiful stimulation. Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique choreograph the camera in beautiful counterpoint to Portman’s dance moves, especially in rehearsals, and the muted color scheme on rather grainy stock look like a more refined version of what the director did on “The Wrestler.” Tchaikovsky’s ever-present music supplies plenty of its own drama and the dance world details seem plausible enough.

Black Swan opens in theaters December 1st.