From left: 'Requiem for a Dream,' 'mother!' and 'The Whale' Artisan Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection; Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; A24/Courtesy Everett Collection In the year 2000, there were so many hip filmmakers making sexy violent experimental crime fantasias. Darren Aronofsky stood out. Most Sundance debuts were cheap, but his breakout feature looked funded by quarters stolen from a broken vending machine.