‘Swarm’ Review: An Equally Emotional and Brutal Show from Prime Video
When we set out to do Swarm, we wanted to break that [traditional] mold again. And it’s challenging when you’re breaking form. People approach TV in a very specific way. Everything has a formula.
Janine Nabers on Swarm
From co-creators and executive producers Janine Nabers and Donald Glover, Swarm, set between 2016-2018, follows Dre (Dominique Fishback), an obsessed fan of the world’s biggest pop star (Ni’Jah) who sets off on an unexpected cross-country journey.
Swarm wastes no time getting to the heart of human obsession. Dre’s journey and descent into toxic fandom reminds us that media, for better or worse, can have lasting impacts on our collective psyche and health—much like a sugary dose of your favorite junk food. The exploration of how parasocial relationships can turn sour leads to quite a few shocking moments and personal revelations for the cast of characters in the story, particularly Dre. What’s more, Swarm positions itself with a more studious perspective that dares to carefully examine the lead character in favor of simply making a half-baked empathetic case towards them.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Dominique Fishback talked about the intention behind her character in the story:
I feel like the fandom thing is a backdrop. It’s not at the forefront of the story. It is about Dre. These are the given circumstances — that she’s obsessed with this pop star — but through it there’s the love of her sister. There’s a thin line between love and hate, and she can’t tell the difference, and she hasn’t been given the tools to grieve properly.
Though the intent was not to endorse the behavior of the character, the journey across the country becomes more enjoyable every episode as Dre coasts through her existence and self-discovery. Each episode has a distinct flavor at the center of the chaos. Viewers will be pleasantly surprised with bold swings from the creative team. Swarm features several staff writers including Jamal Olori, Stephen Glover, Kara Brown, Ibra Ake, Janine Nabers, Karen Joseph Adcock, and Malia Obama. Yes, that Malia Obama. For a show of this size, it’s not common to see this many names credited but it ultimately paid off in the style and aesthetic. In many regards, every creative decision correlates to a simmering question about—and facet of—identity.
The series relishes in the unexpected, with twists and turns scattered throughout the show’s seven episodes. Narratively, Swarm might just be one of the most unique finds on streaming. Fishback navigates the highs and lows of her character with intentional awkwardness and moments of clarity; a beautifully mad performance from Fishback. Chloë Bailey, who plays Dre’s sister, Marissa, provides some sanity as the violence and deception unfolds. Bailey and Fishback’s dynamic on screen is not only believable, but relatable. These are sisters, and the bond between them can be felt meticulously threaded into every episode like brief flashes of memories with our own loved ones. Drew Daniels and Gabriel Patay capture the relationship with sincerity and rawness with several intrusive close-ups and delicate camera work. It doesn’t require flashy technique to tell this story—and it’s arguably better for it.
Swarm’s sharp focus on the emotionality of a single individual exacerbates the horror unfolding before our eyes. Without that realness exemplified through the relationships and vulnerability in the scripts or performances, the thin, bloody veil of evil wouldn’t quite slice the same. While the story crescendos with brutality, the main driving force behind the shows’s best story beats are those connections at the core. It never waivers when new locations or people are introduced over the course of two years. Minor details find their way to an ultimately satisfying conclusion, though they may initially appear to be confined to a single scene or episode. This is a testament to the attention-to-detail in the writer’s room.
Even with limited time, the show operates almost as an ensemble piece with an abundance of memorable characters to meet along the way. Kiersey Clemons, Damson Idris, Rory Culkin, Heather Simms, and Atkins Estimond provide both levity and scale to an otherwise cut-throat adventure. It’s astonishing that the story can exhale with so much talent in front of the camera and episodes that last roughly 30 minutes. Nonetheless, nothing is lost in translation from the reckless indulgence of narcissism to the prospect of eventual peace. Short enough to avoid overstaying its welcome but long enough to captivate viewers with overwhelming sensationalism while pondering how far we’d go just to breathe the same air as our idols.
All episodes of Swarm can be streamed on Amazon Prime starting on March 17th.
