Bloodstained Ivory (2025) Review

Bloodstained Ivory (2025) Review

Black Swan meets Whiplash in Bloodstained Ivory – Klein Haley’s (Reservation Dogs) enthralling new dark psychological tale of dedication, obsession, jealousy, paranoia, and rage. Following its festival run, the tense and unnerving new thriller is set to make its UK debut on digital on 2 November, courtesy of Miracle Media.

In his final year at Chester Conservatory, aspiring concert pianist Ross (Nick Skonberg – Disclosure Day) throws his future into question after freezing during a crucial senior recital. As his desperation grows, his mental health deteriorates and his pursuit of artistic recognition turns to self-destruction and bloody violence. Just how far will the ambitious artist go to secure his future as a renowned classical musician?

As the marketing blurb included above states, there is an element of director Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 box-office and critical smash-hit Black Swan with Bloodstained Ivory, whereby someone strives to be more than they are within their chosen field. Black Swan is a dark, disturbing portrayal of that person’s descent into madness and it makes for a challenging but rewarding watch. Unfortunately director Klein Haley’s Bloodstained Ivory falls short of such comparisons.

With Black Swan the viewer emphasised with Natalie Portman’s character making her journey more felt and pronounced, whereas with concert pianist Ross it’s hard to engage with or relate to him given that he spends close to the film’s two-hour runtime ignoring the opinion of experts and loved ones and instead coming across as a less sympathetic protagonist and instead someone who is both whiny and petulant.

I could not help thinking, once the film had finished, that there was a gem of an idea here that could have been better. We could have had Ross dispatching rivals throughout the story and as he does so, his piano playing improves incrementally till he becomes the piano player he strives to be. I felt that this could have made for a better story rather than a two-hour runtime spent with a sulky lead.

Bloodstained Ivory is on UK digital 2 November from Miracle Media