en.wikipedia.org

Swarm (TV series) - Wikipedia

  • ️Fri Mar 17 2023

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swarm

Promotional poster

Genre
Created by
StarringDominique Fishback
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producers
ProducersDominique Fishback
Kris Baucom
Running time27–39 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkAmazon Prime Video
ReleaseMarch 17, 2023

Swarm is an American satirical black comedy horror miniseries created by Janine Nabers and Donald Glover. It follows Dre (Dominique Fishback), a young woman whose obsession with a pop star takes a dark turn.

The series debuted on March 17, 2023, on Amazon Prime Video. It received positive reviews from critics, and Fishback's performance in the series garnered widespread acclaim, receiving a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. The series received two additional nominations, including Outstanding Writing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for Nabers and Glover for the episode "Stung."

The series tells the story of Dre, a young woman who is deeply obsessed with Ni'Jah, a world-famous popstar whose fanbase is known as "The Swarm," who begin to influence her life. The show is a deep dive into Dre's life, her desire, her fandom, and how it takes her to a dark, unexpected turn.[7][2]

Cast and characters

[edit]

  • Dominique Fishback as Andrea "Dre" Greene, a young woman whose obsession with Ni'Jah, a world-famous popstar, leads her on a dark and murderous path across the United States
  • Damson Idris as Khalid, Marissa's boyfriend[8]
  • Rory Culkin as Marcus, a man Dre meets at the club and goes home with
  • Karen Rodriguez as Erica, Marissa's friend and boss
  • Paris Jackson as Hailey, a stripper who has an abusive boyfriend and who goes by the name Halsey.
  • X Mayo as Cheeks, Dre's boss at the strip club who is also a stripper
  • Atkins Estimond as Reggie, a man Dre is hunting who tweeted negative things about Marissa and Ni'Jah
  • Byron Bowers as George, a sound man whom Dre uses to get closer to Ni'Jah
  • Stephen Glover as Caché, a rapper and Ni'Jah's husband, a pastiche of Jay-Z
  • Billie Eilish as Eva, a women's empowerment cult leader who takes Dre under her wing
  • Kate Lyn Sheil as Cricket, a girl who offers Dre a place to stay during Bonnaroo
  • Victoria Blade as Salem
  • Leon as Harris, Marissa's father who blames Dre for her death
  • Rickey Thompson as Kenny, a man who works at a phone repair store in Houston, who refuses to fix Marissa's phone for Dre
  • Heather Alicia Simms as Loretta Greene, a detective in the "real world" who has started to piece together that these killings have a common thread, the victims have all insulted a superstar with a vicious fan base on social media
  • Kiersey Clemons as Rashida, a graduate student with whom Dre falls in love
  • Cree Summer as Jackie, Rashida's mother
  • Norm Lewis as Wilbur, Rashida's father
  • Jayden Braddock as Pedestrian (uncredited)

In addition, Nirine S. Brown co-stars as Ni'Jah, a pop star whom Dre idolizes. She is a pastiche of Beyoncé.

In February 2021, Donald Glover signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios.[9] One of the projects in development included Hive, which would revolve around a figure inspired by Beyoncé, with Janine Nabers acting as co-creator and showrunner.[10] Glover is also credited as creator and executive producer, and directed the first episode.[7]

Glover compared the series to "post-truth Piano Teacher mixed with The King of Comedy".[7] Glover and Nabers wanted to create an anti-hero story, using Tony Soprano and Don Draper as inspiration.[7]

Malia Obama is among the writers of the series.[11] Nabers said, "We really wanted to give her the opportunity to get her feet wet in TV and see if this is something she wants to continue doing."[12]

In April 2022, Dominique Fishback was announced as the lead actress of the series, also joining as a producer.[13] Glover contacted Fishback to play the role of the lead's sister. Fishback convinced Glover to give her the lead role.[7] The series also stars Chloe Bailey as Dre's sister, Marissa and Damson Idris as Marissa's boyfriend.[8]

On March 17, 2023, the original soundtrack was released. The extended play included accompanying music from the series performed by Donald Glover and Kirby.[14][15]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Something Like That" (performed by Ni'jah and Kirby)Donald Glover3:36
2."Agatha" (performed by Ni'jah)Dockery3:00
3."Big World" (performed by Ni'jah and Kirby)
  • Christopher Lloyd
  • Dockery
  • Michael Uzowuru
  • Choker
  • Michael Uzowuru
2:40
4."Adventure" (performed by Ni'jah and Kirby)Dockery
  • Samuel Ivoko
  • Vikas
2:54
5."Hahaha" (performed by Ni'jah and Kirby)DockeryLeken1:53
6."Sticky" (performed by Ni'jah, Kirby and Childish Gambino)
  • Glover
  • Dockery
  • Dylan Wiggins
  • Donald Glover
  • Michael Uzowuru
2:51
Total length:16:58

Swarm premiered at the 2023 South by Southwest Film Festival on March 10, 2023.[16] All seven episodes were released on March 17, 2023, on Amazon Prime Video.[2]

Dominique Fishback received widespread acclaim for her role in the television series.

Swarm has received positive reviews from critics, with the performance of Dominique Fishback receiving ubiquitous praise. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Swarm holds an approval rating of 87%, based on 68 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Swarm can be as unpleasant as a hornet sting, but Dominique Fishback's ferocious performance and the creators' bold creative swings add up to a truly subversive take on toxic fandom."[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned the series a score of 66 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18]

At RogerEbert.com, Nick Allen gave the series 3.5 out of 4 stars, calling it a "blood-splattered pop culture provocation" that "plays out like a funhouse mirror reflection of very real, however bizarre, trending topics of the recent past." He also wrote that Donald Glover's directorial pilot episode was "terrific" and that "the series' satire is all the more heartbreaking and compulsively watchable because of [Dominique] Fishback's dedication to every facet of Dre."[19]

TVLine named Fishback the "Performer of the Week" for the week of March 25, 2023, for her performance in the seventh and final episode "Only God Makes Happy Endings". The site wrote, "Fishback gets a shot at the spotlight and knocks it out of the park, blowing us away with a fascinating portrait of a obsessive fan who gets pushed over the edge and goes off on a deranged killing spree. Fishback was phenomenal throughout the series, but she saved the very best for Swarm's final episode, shape-shifting before our eyes to show us yet another layer to Dre."[20]

  1. ^ Mantilla, Ryan Louis (March 21, 2023). "Billie Eilish Reflects on Acting Debut in 'Swarm' With Behind-the-Scenes Images". Collider. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Chapman, Wilson (February 24, 2023). "'Swarm' Trailer: Donald Glover Takes on Stan Culture in Amazon Horror Comedy". IndieWire. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Delgado, Sara (March 20, 2023). "Swarm Co-Creator Says Malia Obama Had "Wild as Hell" Ideas for Prime Video Series". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  4. ^ Pulliam-Moore, Charles (March 17, 2023). "Amazon's Swarm is so close to being brilliant". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  5. ^ Seale, Jack (March 17, 2023). "Swarm review – Donald Glover's Beyoncé-inspired serial killer satire is cold and dull". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  6. ^ Lowry, Brian (March 17, 2023). "'Swarm' delivers a stinging satire about excessive fandom". CNN. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e Desta, Yohana (January 30, 2022). "Swarm: Donald Glover's Beyoncé-Inspired New Series Has Notes of Don Draper and Murder". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Remley, Hilary (January 30, 2023). "First 'Swarm' Images Introduce Dominique Fishback and Chloe Bailey in Donald Glover's New Series". Collider. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (February 17, 2021). "Donald Glover Inks Overall Deal With Amazon Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  10. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (February 17, 2021). "Donald Glover Sets Rich Amazon Overall Deal (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  11. ^ Sharf, Zack (March 25, 2022). "Donald Glover Confirms Malia Obama in Writers' Room of New Show: 'Her Writing Style Is Great'". Variety. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  12. ^ Brathwaite, Lester Fabian (January 31, 2023). "Donald Glover's new show, Swarm, is like 'a sister to Atlanta' — and dangerously in love with Beyoncé". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  13. ^ White, Peter (April 14, 2022). "Dominique Fishback Set As Lead In Amazon's Donald Glover & Janine Nabers Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Renshaw, David (March 17, 2023). "Donald Glover shares soundtrack to new show Swarm". The Fader. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  15. ^ Hussey, Allison (March 17, 2023). "Donald Glover's Swarm Series EP Soundtrack Released: Listen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  16. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 1, 2023). "SXSW Second Wave Includes UAR's 'Bottoms', Donald Glover's 'Swarm' Series, Michelle Yeoh's 'American Born Chinese' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "Swarm: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  18. ^ "Swarm: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  19. ^ Allen, Nick (March 17, 2023). "Swarm movie review & film summary (2023)". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  20. ^ "The TVLine Performer of the Week: Dominique Fishback". TVLine. March 25, 2023. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  21. ^ Complex, Valerie (June 15, 2023). "Black Reel 7th Annual Television Awards Featuring Gender Neutral Categories Announces Nominations; 'The Best Man: Final Chapters' Leads With 18 Noms". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  22. ^ Tinoco, Armando (June 5, 2023). "Golden Trailer Awards Nominations List: Stranger Things, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ted Lasso & Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Among Most Nominated". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  23. ^ Davis, Clayton; Lang, Brent (October 24, 2023). "Gotham Awards Nominations: 'All of Us Strangers' Leads With Four Nominations". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  24. ^ Anderson, Erik (July 11, 2023). "'The Boys', 'Yellowjackets', 'Abbott Elementary' lead 2023 HCA TV Awards nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  25. ^ Blauvelt, Christian (December 5, 2023). "'American Fiction,' 'May December,' 'Past Lives' Lead 2024 Indie Spirits Noms". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  26. ^ "75th Emmy Awards Complete Nominations List" (PDF). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  27. ^ Hailu, Selome (June 30, 2023). "TCA Award Nominations: 'The Bear,' 'Succession,' 'The Last of Us' Lead With Five Nominations Each". Variety. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  28. ^ Hipes, Patrick (January 25, 2024). "Colman Domingo, Keke Palmer, Ayo Edebiri, Victoria Monét Lead NAACP Image Awards Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  29. ^ Malec, Brett (January 11, 2024). "2024 People's Choice Awards: Complete List of Nominees". E! Online. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  30. ^ "Nominations announced for the Critics Choice Association's 4th Annual "Critics Choice Super Awards" honoring Superhero, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Horror, and Action Movies and Series". Critics Choice Associations. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2024.