Swarm

Nabers and Glover's artful and granular slasher/stalker series arrived with a tonne of weight and expectation around it but it ended up feeling a little unfinished. I was mainly here for the fantastic Fishback, who is brilliantly droll as the murderous and delusional Dre. I hope this proves to be her springboard to mega stardom. Swarm is strongest when it uses Dre to skewer contemporary pretences and conversations, and weakest when it lurches into step with dull serial killer tropes. There are some fantastic performances beyond Fishback, including a surprisingly engrossing turn from Billie Eilish of all people. A diverting experiment but outside of some memorable moments it doesn't really coalesce into anything that feels meaningful.

An incredible performance in the lead role, some very interesting events, and a lot of originality.

This willingness to take risks gives us the best, but also the worst of Swarm, as it can be erratic in its pacing and how it presents what it has to say.

Aesthetically brilliant, the quality varies greatly from episode to episode (the cult one is brilliant), but above all, it is something we always want to see through to the end. I would also liked a bit more of character development in some supporting roles. The lack of plausibility of so many events in different episodes makes me evaluate the final product positively, but with some reservations.

Odd series that ends with a curious finale. There is no solid word on whether this was a mini-series or the beginning of a series and I'm not sure if I really want more, though I'd like to know more about that ending. This is a violent oddity about obsession and grief from the fragile, very damaged and very dangerous mind of a young delusional woman. I think this would have made a better movie as some of this feels a bit dragged out, though it's never uninteresting. The main thing to talk about though is the lead actress, Dominique Fishback. She is excellent and has the most amazing chameleon like ability to change her physical appearance in so many ways throughout these three and a half hours. I was fascinated by her. There are a lot of characters in this, many of which turn up dead, but all the actors are very fine. Billie Eilish makes her acting debut here and at this point in time she is just really playing Billie Eilish, but she is an effective presence with promise. I've no idea as to why Rory Culkin is in this other than to show off his body, all of it, in his very small role. Again, this is an odd series certainly not for everyone and not for anyone who has a problem viewing violence. It pretends to be based on real characters and I'm not sure why, but by informing us of that at the beginning of every episode, one kind of expects an entire story. We don't really get one.

It is hard not to notice Dominique Fishback's subtle yet stellar performance alongside veteran Samuel L. Jackson in "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey." Her acting talents scream depth in that series and I very much look forward to seeing her in a lead role. Well, she secures it here in "Swarm" and I can say that nobody else could have done justice to this complex role besides her. Fishback has that unique ability to convey emotions just with her face and body language. And when she has words to say, she melts into the character. She is pretty much the highlight of this TV series. "Swarm" is well-edited with some eclectic cinematography, however most supporting characters I find rather forgettable, except for Hailey, impressively played by Paris Jackson. Towards the middle, the episodes just churn repetitively, so it gets a bit boring. But it ticks up a little in the last two episodes.

I'm on the old side (50s) and not the target market, but I have to say that I'm really enjoying this series. Basically, it's about an obsessed fan and her murderous journey as a superfan of the Beyonce-inspired pop figure Ni'Jah.

As others have noted, it is slow, but I'm enjoying the buildup and character revelations. Unfortunately, it's probably too slow for a younger audience, but oldies like me grew up with slow so I've got no problem with it. For a series, it's filmed, edited and scripted in a very cinematic way. I do love all the oversatured colors and the monotonous, grinding soundtrack. Paris Jackson shows off her screen presence and great comic timing in a small role.

What I like is that the main character, played by Dominique Fishback, comes across as an actual person, living an ordinary life punctuated by flashes of mayhem and murder. She's not all that sympathetic, but almost like a lost soul whose obsession with food and her idol are the driving forces in her life. Dominique plays her as a blank canvas who slips on various personalities, depending on the situation. She incredibly talented in this role, because you can see the psychopath within at every turn and that's not an easy thing to achieve.

I'm not sure where it's going and that's what keeps me watching.