Swarm
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Whos your favorite artist?
is the questionSwarmposes in its first moment.
This is one of a long string ofreal-lifeevents that co-creators Donald Glover and Janine NaberssSwarmwill depict through Dres story.
ButSwarmisnt just a retelling of real-life events: Its a dark comedy fused with a thriller.
Another inspiration was a tweet Glover saw about serial killers.
We can be crazy; we can be serial killers, too.
With these two overarching ideas,Swarmkicks off in 2016 in Houston.
As teenagers, they ran a Twitter fan account called the Swarm.
Now young adults living together, theyre hustling for rent and navigating the grown-up world.
Except Dre hasnt shaken her childish obsession with NiJah.
It borders on homoerotic, as the best obsessive-BFF tropes do.
Naturally, Dre doesnt care for Khalid.
Though the deep love between Dre and Marissa is apparent, like most codependent relationships, its also toxic.
Dre tells Marissa about Khalids advance, but Marissa doesnt believe it and dramatically leaves.
She saysFestivalcouldve been written from her heart.
Marissa is confirmed dead at the hospital.
Her first murder is, naturally, Khalid.
Dominique Fishbacks performance is an explosion of emotion and violence.
Its fantastic to watch; horror might be this actors best genre.
Paris Jackson guest-stars as Hailey, giving us a great line about being a quarter Black.
But they arent her main target.
Dre recognizes him as the man shes been stalking.
Before they leave, Dre sneaks back into the house and tries to murder the man in his bathroom.
One of them pulls a gun out of her purse and shoots him dead.
Dre makes a run for it in the post-murder confusion, leaving the strippers to answer for the death.
The answer was an immediate yes.
Finances be damned, I decided to make it work.
Glover and Nabers use this creative unit to create a world where fandom takes us all over the edge.
Not much of it is fabricated.
As the opening credits ambiguously state, This is not a work of fiction.
Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is intentional.
Indulgence is already a huge theme inSwarm.
And I see it as a metaphor for stan cultures obsessive consumption of people like Beyonce.
I love, love, love the intentional use of the buzzing sounds during highly emotional or pivotal moments.
Im a fashion girly, so I will always be looking at costuming.
Dres clothing choices are very telling.
At Marissas funeral, shes scantily clad, her emotions on display.
Her cute but childlike hairstyles are also the perfect touch, adding a tragic innocence.
