Swarm Review: A Great Performance By Dominique Fishback | Prime Video
Cast: Dominique Fishback, Chloe Bailey, Damson Idris, Donald Glover, Paris Jackson, Billie Eilish
Creator: Donald Glover, Janine Nabers
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Swarm is the title of a TV series available from Friday 17 March 2023 on Prime Video: the eclectic Donald Glover – also known as Childish Gambino – worked on its creation and a group of screenwriters, former showrunners of Atlanta, which includes inside, as a recruit, also the eldest daughter of the Obamas, Malia. In our review of Swarm, we will analyze the relationship that is created between the artistic vision of Glove and Nabers and the reality it wants to tell, an absolute bloody satire on what it means to be part of a very heartfelt fan base nowadays between psychological excavation and narrative situations brought to paroxysm in today’s social networks.
When fandom from a simple pastime becomes deadly. Swarm, the new thriller-horror series from Prime Video to be released on the platform on March 17th shows us how far one is ready to go for one’s idols. The protagonist of this story is Dre (played by Dominique Fishback) who has an idol: the fictitious pop icon Ni’jah, who for many trues recalled the Queen of Pop, Beyoncé. Her level of attraction to Ni’jah ‘s character causes her to behave dangerously. In seven episodes we will witness the journey of Dre, an even more emotional journey that the girl faces before the big concert of her favorite pop star. Emmy winner Donald Glover co-created the series along with his Atlanta co-executive producers Janine Nabers and Jamal Olori. They assembled a few talented guest stars, including Chlöe Bailey as Dre ‘s sister Marissa and Damson Idris as Marissa’s boyfriend Khalid. Other cast members include Rickey Thompson, Paris Jackson, Kiersey Clemons, and Byron Bowers.
Swarm Review: The Story Plot
It was between 2016 and 2018. Andrea Jackson (Dominique Fishback) is a black girl who is particularly obsessed with a fictitious pop star, but whose appearance, the details of her look, and her wild fan base seem to remind us of the hugely popular Beyoncé Knowles. An unruly passion that she shares with her sister Marissa (Chloe Bailey) between one Twitter post and another, always and continuously connected to the small screen of the mobile phone so as not to miss even the latest social notification regarding their undisputed idol. However, Marissa’s sudden death plunges Dre into a progressive spiral of mental insanity, so much so that he crosses the United States in disguise to start an unprecedented blood trail…
This is not a work of fiction, thus begin the seven episodes that make up the first television season of Swarm, the first product for the small screen that arises from the exclusive collaboration between Amazon Prime Video and the two showrunners Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, creators of the highly successful show called Atlanta. Everything Sciame tells is flour in the bag of the creativity of its two producers, yet the tagline in the incipit of each chapter seems to warn the television viewer: what you are about to watch is not so far from today’s reality, and the new social generation could unknowingly feel part of a “Swarm“, of a group of individuals who, taking advantage of the thousand possibilities of the internet, arrive at making violent and dangerous gestures in the name of a common cause.
“Who is your favorite artist?” for Dre the answer to this question is very easy: Ni’jah. She maintains a fan account honoring the pop star, chats with members of the fandom about how amazing Ni’jah is, watches videos of her idol late into the night, and is willing to do anything to go to her live concert. The obsessive attention to these details, and the way Dre puts his idol on a pedestal border on obsession. Unfortunately, things are destined to get worse because a personal tragedy that concerns her closely will put Dre to the test. The colors of this series had already been outlined by the presentation trailer:
Dre ‘s story has evoked a current and real phenomenon of the relationship between fan and idol, which is not only about obsession but also about the terror that this idol is not what we have always imagined it to be. Pop star Ni’jah ‘s character has been compared to Beyoncé who has one of the fiercest fandoms in the world, ready to execute anyone who dares insult her idol. How far will Dre go to demonstrate his commitment to the cult of Ni’Jah? Swarm answers this question at the end of the first episode of the series, when we still know little about the characters, the first plot upheaval puts Dre in front of a choice.
Without going into spoilers, letting the viewer fully enjoy this adventure, some episodes of Swarm are deliberately disturbing and violent and are interspersed with moments characterized by black humor. All in the norm, but the Prime Video series is also a discovery from the point of view of the cast as the further you go with the vision the more you will become aware of the number of famous guest stars present in the series – including Rory Culkin present in the first episode. But the most striking guest star is a surprise for those who dare to go all the way to the fourth episode after all this bloodshed.
Swarm Review and Analysis
However, when Swarm comes to life, already halfway through this first season of the Prime Video series, we realize that it leaves no room for judgment. The story that is tinged with blood red does not try to identify a culprit – even if the viewer will immediately understand who it is. The series does not try to condemn the aggressor but tries in every way to explain what fandom is, specially treated in this aggressive and violent way. Dre herself is portrayed as a troubled teenager who idolizes her favorite singer but without trying to make her likable or justifiable. The sixth episode is the one that most upset the narrative canons of this first season of Swarm. Using a technique very dear to the cinema of the past, Glover’s TV series takes the viewer to another level of the Dre story. We see its facets and contours, even if we still have some doubts about where it’s headed. But as we said, Swarm does not tend to judge but welcomes everyone into his hive.
This incessant question, in our minds and Dre ‘s minds, reverberates throughout the series. Sciame confronts us with the weaknesses of the human soul and does so with violence, coldness and lucidity that leaves no way out. Swarm invites us to see idols – whatever they are – as real people. But at the same time, during the episodes – seven lasting 30 minutes – real people, those who surround us every day, become the object of our judgments, our violence, and rancor.
Swarm does this too. It serves as a reminder that no matter how crazy or crazy you may be about your favorite celebrity, there is always someone crazier and crazier than you. The Swarm that we create internally will not save us, but in the representation of the denunciation of today’s society, Donald Glover makes it his characteristic trait, as he has already done very well in Atlanta. The series demonstrates what obsession is and what obsession with banality is and how easy it is to fall victim to it. The leading lighthouse in this bee Swarm is the protagonist, Dominique Fishback. Multifaceted in all the various transformations that her character, Dre, assumes throughout the series. Sometimes ironic, but ruthless. Moody and cold at the same time: Dominique Fishback. Don’t make her your idol though.
The journey that the character played by an extraordinary and disturbing Dominique Fishback takes is that of the anti-hero; implement an elaborate and psychotic revenge plan to carry out an almost messianic mission: pay homage to the figure of the missing sister and take out (literally) the haters of pop star Na’jia first by identifying them on social networks, then approaching them every time with an ever-changing identity. A split in personality, that of the disturbed Dre, which seems like a real red herring of much more serious psychological discomfort. Avenging the memory of the missing sister Marissa using the shortcuts of violence can therefore be read as a symptom of a very serious psychotic void. An out-of-control symptom that starts a trail of blood and murders that seems to pay homage with great intelligence and effectiveness to the new drifts of horror and psychological thriller of the black experience, without however consciously imitating cinematic or television structures and clichés.
Who is your favorite artist? A chanting question, this, that Andrea Jackson poses to future victims of her incomprehensible and frightening murderous rampage; an unleashed fury that compares her to a real bee of her killer under the orders of her queen. In Donald Glover’s Prime Video series, everything is highly functional to the psychological study of its protagonist and to the wild mind of the fanatics who populate social platforms nowadays in the name of decerebrate obsessions. Haters and avid fans who relentlessly fly the flag of online hate speech and conflict while at the same time sweeping the perhaps most shocking truth of all under the carpet at home: behind every obsession exaggerated to the point of paroxysm there is a psychological void to fill; and it is perhaps on this narrative pivot that Sciame, on balance, is not only in a stimulating and unpublished revenge series but also turns into a cautionary tale on the dangers of a life devoted to fueling one’s fantasies rather than our self-esteem.
Swarm Review: The Last words
Swarm is the television debut on Prime Video for Donald Glover, the creative mind and protagonist of the great success of Atlanta. For the streaming platform, Glover stages a violent tale of revenge with distinctly satirical tones that looks with a very ironic eye at the undergrowth of the toxic fan base of contemporary pop stars. The protagonist Dominique Fishback is unmissable. Twists and turns are definitely what Glover does very well in Swarm. The TV series is full of them and until the end of the seven episodes, it knows how to surprise you – also thanks to the short duration of 30 minutes per episode. Dominique Fishback is the beacon of this series and through the different nuances of her character, she shows us what it means to be a fan of excess and obsession.
