proving oneself

His films like The Wrestler and Black Swan obsessively explore protagonists pushing themselves to self-destruction in pursuit of validation and perfection.

Through characters in Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and The Irishman, he examines men struggling to prove their worth through violence, ambition, and redemption.

His distinctive cinema, especially in The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Poor Things, dissects how characters perform identities and prove themselves within absurd social systems.