Swarm

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

If Donald Glover makes a TV show I am going to watch it, even if it looks as scary as this one. I was getting some Jordan Peele vibes from the trailer, so I was excited to see what it was like, and it was about as good as I expected. A mega-fan of a particular artist (who is basically just Beyonce) is a part of the "hive", where she is super protective of the artist online, to the point that she ends up killing people in her name. So ya, it gets dark quick.

Dominique Fishback is the star, and she is incredible, very unnerving and playing the part so well. She was amazing in Judas and The Black Messiah as well, so its nice to see her getting a lead role. But the real great part of this show was how modern it felt, with the way social media is used and celebrity lives are talked about as if they are family members. The parallels were spooky, and there is even an episode that had me convinced this was all a true story (its not).

This show borders on horror for sure, but I would compare it to the Peele movies. Beautifully shot, very artistic in its choices, and the violence is considered and not over the top. It reminded me a lot of Atlanta, Glover's masterpiece show that feels distinctly modern and African American. I am convinced this guy is a complete genius and he has my money for all his endeavours.

Can't give it a perfect score, since mid way through episodes felt a bit repetitive, but I loved the way it kept tension and then the liberties it took in the final 2 episodes were great.

Shoutout to Billie Eilish for a single episode cameo where she crushes it.