self-inflicted harm

His films obsessively depict protagonists destroying themselves through addiction, perfectionism, and psychological obsession, notably in Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream.

He creates emotionally brutal narratives where characters endure and inflict suffering upon themselves, exploring guilt and self-destruction in works like Antichrist and Dancer in the Dark.

His confrontational style examines self-sabotage and cycles of harm in films like Irréversible and Climax, where characters' choices lead to their own devastation.