Donald Glover's new seven-part Amazon Prime thriller series Swarm is the provocative Beyonce-inspired take on the cult of obsessive fandom starring Dominique Fishbank and Chloe Bailey that's dividing critics and the internet alike with its violence, dark themes and gratuitous sex scenes.
Swarm also marks none other than Billie Eilish's acting debut and also features performances from Paris Jackson, Khalid and Kiersey Clemons.
Another first for the series is the debut of Barack and Michelle Obama's daughter, Malia Ann, as a writer on an episode titled, Girl, Bye.
What is the plot?Co-created by Glover and and Janine Nabers (who also worked together on the Hulu series Atlanta) Swarm focuses on Dre (Dominique Fishbank) and her best friend Marissa (Chloe Bailey) who are mega stans for the global superstar singer, Ni'Jah who is undoubtedly supposed to be Beyonce. In their standom they are also members of the collective ‘Swarm’ of Ni'Jah fans which is also undoubtedly supposed to be Beyonce's ‘BeyHive’.
Set between the years 2016 - 2018, Dre is appears awkward, lonely and rudderless whose only guiding light is her devotion to the Ni'Jah and the Swarm. Viewers see her in various hopeless scenarios, almost sleepwalking her way through destructive encounters, with Ni’Jah essentially serving as the only light that guides her. She is intense and socially awkward, she spies on her best friend Marissa (who is also her former foster sister) having sex - in scenes that are uncomfortable to watch and have caused much online debate.
However the plot takes a twist when Dre's obsession with Ni'Jah leads her on a - spoiler alert - murderous spree with graphic, gory and violent scenes, killing any Ni'Jah haters who cross her path.
What about Billie Eilish's role?Billie makes her acting debut in episode 4, playing Eva, a cult leader to white women.
Swarm is musician Billie's first scripted role, although she has previously appeared in documentaries, hosted Saturday Night Live last year and voiced herself in an episode of The Simpsons.
Billie's appearance on the red carpet at the show's premier in LA earlier this week had her fans going wild that she may be in the show. Then a teaser trailer dropped, announcing that she would indeed be making a surprise appearance in the show.
In the clip - in which Billie's performance is creepy, borderline terrifying - Dre tells the character played by Billie: “I see milk spilled on the carpet.”
“What colour was the milk?” the singer asks back, to which Dre replies: “It was red.”
“Did you hurt someone?” Billie whispers, smiling.
Yes,” Dre answers, with Billie replying: “Very good” and grinning.
Dominique praised Billie for her performance on social media, writing: “That girl @billieeilish you’re so amazing in this. So impressed and incredibly honoured to be your first scene partner !!!!”
How has it been received?The aforementioned sex scene between Chloe Bailey and Khalid has sparked debate online for its graphic nature, with many questioning why Chloe would participate in such a graphic performance.
One Twitter user wrote: "Where is a Chloe Bailey's mentor pls??? She's been making terrible decisions lately, she should have never done that sex scene in Swarm and I'm not even gonna go into her most recent collab".
The debate follows recent public conversations about sex on screen, sparked by actors such as Penn Badgely requesting for sex scenes to be cut down from movies and TV shows.
Described as a ‘creepy little mini-series’ by The New York Times which reports that ‘Dre remains a bit of a hollow shell — a vehicle for a grab bag of ideas about potent topics like female empowerment and identity, and the ways in which Black women are alternately condescended to and ignored, that are smartly annotated but don’t come together in a way that makes dramatic sense'. Reviews have been mixed both in the media and on social media, but with a stellar cast and some controversial topics to debate, there's no doubt that Swarm will continue to create a buzz.
Swarm is available now on Amazon Prime Video.
