Swarm

2023 - 3 - 17

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Image courtesy of "The Independent"

Billie Eilish makes acting debut as 'cult leader' in Donald Glover's ... (The Independent)

'Happier Than Ever' singer appears in fourth episode of Glover's thriller about an obsessed fan.

The titular “swarm” of the show’s title is said to take inspiration from the “Beyhive”, the name of Beyoncé’s fans. “What colour was the milk?” the singer asks back, to which Dre replies: “It was red.” In the clip, Dre tells the character played by Eilish: “I see milk spilled on the carpet.”

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Image courtesy of "Rolling Stone"

Inside Billie Eilish's Terrifying Acting Debut in 'Swarm' (Rolling Stone)

Co-creator Janine Nabers and star Dominique Fishback sing the pop star's praises for her excellent turn as a mystery woman who's not what she seems.

To subvert that with this, and with Billie, was great.” “We were looking to cast the episode and she suggested Billie, and I said, ‘Does she act?’ And she said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘What has she been in?’ And she said, ‘Nothing.’ But what’s so incredible about this process is that you have a lot of people that work on the show that are multi-hyphenate and people who have so many different passions. It’s about the idea of a cult-like mentality of someone that can be your savior, and you see that reflected in music. “When you look at the time of the show’s story, and the fact that there’s a true-crime element of every episode, that element of Episode Four is NXIVM,” explains Nabers. “I’m gonna snap my fingers, and when I do, I want you to say your name,” Eva tells Dre. “This show, in terms of women and violence, is so empowering for me, because you see it from such a masculine standpoint usually in the history of film and TV. “She’s so respectful of the craft. This ultraviolent fever dream of a series, from the [Atlanta](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-recaps/atlanta-series-finale-recap-1234626445/) team of [Donald Glover](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/donald-glover/) and Janine Nabers, tells the tale of a tormented young Black woman, Dre ( [Dominique Fishback](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/dominique-fishback/), outstanding), who idolizes Ni’Jah, the world’s biggest pop star — or at least the one with the most militant fanbase, who call themselves the Swarm and drown out any and all online detractors with bee emojis. “They existed in New York — in Albany — and that was the period in our lives when they were preying on women. [Damson Idris](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/damson-idris-interview-snowfall-season-6-tragic-end-fx-dating-lori-harvey-1234683193/)), Dre snaps, embarking on a cross-country killing spree that sees her dispatch anyone who besmirches Ni’Jah’s good name with extreme prejudice. It’s April 2018, and Dre is desperate to see her pop idol at Bonnaroo. (The women also have initials carved into their shoulders, just like those in NXIVM’s sex-cult sorority DOS.)

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Image courtesy of "The New Yorker"

Donald Glover's “Swarm” Is a Portrait of the Serial Killer as a Young ... (The New Yorker)

The horror-thriller series, which Glover created with Janine Nabers, about a mega-fan's violent devotion to a Beyoncé-like pop star, succeeds neither as ...

That’s a meaningful difference between her and the archetypal white male serial killer, but “Swarm” seems unwilling to grapple with the dubious milestone of Black female sociopathy it presents, tiptoeing instead around the social conditions that contributed to Dre’s unstable childhood, as well as the expectations that help her elude capture. Dre’s gradual descent into tragic villainy is lurching and yet not without poignancy; few scenes this year gutted me like the sequence in which she has to look away from one of her final victims, sacrificing her own potential happiness in obeisant service to a higher power. And in these initial chapters the supporting characters are more sharply drawn: a group of Tennessee strippers whose sororal overtures to Dre, the new girl at the club, backfire; a formerly obese man (Byron Bowers) who invites Dre into his home and is quickly undone by the combination of sex and junk food that she offers. But even her marvellously versatile performance can’t make up for the wan character development and the tonal wobbliness that sink the series. As a drifter, Dre tries on a range of gender expressions, from sparkly stripper gear to a rather butch (or transmasculine) guise. The season builds toward a morbid, tongue-in-cheek provocation: What if the female empowerment and self-actualization that Ni’Jah’s anthems champion were channelled into a calling in mass murder? But Marissa is ready to grow up; she’d rather spend her birthday with her boyfriend, Khalid (Damson Idris), than with Dre at a Ni’Jah concert, even if Dre opened up a new credit card to get them premium tickets. A more absurdist version of the character would’ve been right at home in Glover’s “Atlanta,” for which Nabers also wrote; that show’s final season featured a serial killer who targets the participants of a social-media dance challenge set to Soulja Boy’s 2007 hit “Crank That.” But this darker, meaner series, on Prime Video, succeeds neither as satire nor as psychological study. The series opens in the dingy Houston apartment that the fantasy-prone Dre shares with her former foster sister and sole friend, Marissa (Chloe Bailey), a mall clerk and aspiring makeup artist who supports her financially. Every last inch of her gleams: her hair, her eyes, her teeth, the beads and paillettes that shimmer with each hip thrust or arm swing, but, most of all, her skin. Yet the object of fascination in “Swarm,” Donald Glover and Janine Nabers’s new horror-thriller series, isn’t this unmistakable Beyoncé stand-in. And, as with any queen, her domestic orbit is common knowledge: the rapper husband with the capitalist hustle and the wandering eye, their twins, the gifted but hopelessly overshadowed younger sister.

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Image courtesy of "WIRED"

'Swarm,' Superfandom, and Murder (WIRED)

In the new psycho-thriller from Donald Glover, an obsessive fan goes berserk. Is the era of social media to blame?

The most convincing aspect of the series is Fishback. The jewel of the series is its commitment to sharp turns—just when you think it will veer right, it puts the car in reverse and runs over a pile of bodies. Death is “beautiful,” Dre reasons, because “it’s equal, it happens to everybody.” According to Nabers, a former writer on Atlanta, the cerebral architecture of the show originates from niche thrillers like The Piano Teacher (2001) and Elephant (2003), where the wedding of loss, rage, love, and obsession are framed with razor intimacy. So she uses that hurt to hurt others, embarking on a cross-crounty trip where she kills anyone who speaks negatively of Ni’jah. It is a portrait of superfandom in kamikaze form. (A disclaimer before each episode cautions: “This is not a work of fiction. With the exception of season 3—the most ambitious season or the worst, depending on who you ask—it never left the boundaries of the city, its hidden treasures and trapdoors. It’s got keys in the ignition and a tank full of gas, slinking from Texas to California to Tennessee and back. As we find out, she is a honeycomb of sticky traumas. That it happens to be inspired by the BeyHive—perhaps the internet’s most notorious legion of superfan—do with that what you will. Everything is in service of Ni’jah, the Beyoncé-level pop star she can’t live without. For Dre (Dominique Fishback), the answer is a no-brainer.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

Billie Eilish makes acting debut in Donald Glover's new thriller, 'Swarm' (CNN)

Billie Eilish has made a surprise acting debut in an episode of Donald Glover's new thriller series, "Swarm," which landed on Prime Video on Friday.

We gravitate toward people who are juggling multiple hats.” The show, which explores the dark side of stan culture, features a star-studded cast including singer Chloe Bailey, “Snowfall” star Damson Idris and actor Rickey Thompson. Their exchange gets disturbing when Eilish asks “What color was the milk?” and Dre replies: “It was red.”

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Image courtesy of "Radio Times"

Meet the cast of Swarm on Prime Video (Radio Times)

Full list of cast and characters in Donald Glover and Janine Nabers' Prime Video horror series, Swarm, which stars Dominique Fishback and Chloe Bailey.

For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to [The Radio Times Podcast](https://www.radiotimes.com/audio/podcasts/). She has starred in [Grown-ish](https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-64y1s7/grownish/) and 2022 psychological drama [Jane](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-s82ach/jane/). [Casualty](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/soaps/casualty-dylan-keogh-storyline-exclusive-newsupdate/), Doctors and Miranda. The model, actress and singer is the second child of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe. She’s a fellow dancer at the club she works at, is in an abusive relationship but manages to stay (a bit too) cheery for Dre. Brought into Eva’s home, she is offered a place to stay and free tickets but soon, Eva’s mysterious life starts posing a threat to Dre’s dreams of seeing Ni’Jah. Brown is best known for her recurring role as Lynn in Her similarities to Beyoncé are “intentional”, as per the opening credits of each episode, and she boasts millions of monthly listeners, sold out tours and has The Swarm, her dedicated group of loyal fans. Her other TV credits include The Hate U Give, [The Deuce](https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-gdkzki/the-deuce/), Modern Love and Show Me A Hero. [The Little Mermaid](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/little-mermaid-release-date-cast/) actress, Halle Bailey. Who is Khalid? Namely, she’s balancing a job, a fledgling career as a make-up artist and a boyfriend but is battling her own inner demons too.

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Image courtesy of "The Ringer"

Donald Glover's New Show, 'Swarm,' Is Designed to Make Headlines (The Ringer)

The first series from Glover following the conclusion of 'Atlanta,' 'Swarm,' obviously aims to provoke—or, in a more on-theme metaphor, pack some sting.

[actual](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents_involving_QAnon) [examples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack) we have of virtual movements turned violent that aren’t related to pop stars, the would-be warning lacks urgency. (For a show that sneers at social media, Swarm certainly speaks its language.) As compelling as its main performance may be, though, Swarm is still a missed opportunity for insight into the allure of modern idol worship—lots of noise, but not much melody. The premise of Swarm is a clever riff on an established idea. As the season goes on, the show starts to imply that her fixation on Ni’Jah—and indifference to sex, especially with men—is the result of repressed queer desire, an explanation that plays into some [ugly tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PsychoLesbian). Along with her sister, Halle, Bailey is a [protégé of Queen Bey herself](https://people.com/music/beyonce-gifts-chloe-bailey-flowers-after-her-bet-awards-2022-performance/), increasing Swarm’s connection to its all-but-explicit subject. After her breakout out in projects like David Simon’s Show Me a Hero and Fred Hampton biopic Judas and the Black Messiah, which won her costar Daniel Kaluuya an Oscar, Swarm is her first stint as a series lead. Swarm switches to that of an obsessed ultra-fan: Dre (Dominique Fishback), a Houstonite who’s been part of the Beyhive—sorry, Ni’Jah’s “Swarm”—since she was a teenager. (New additions to the roster include a former First Family member who goes by the pen name Malia Ann.) As such, Swarm retains the stylistic trademarks of Atlanta’s uneven, often [online cliché](https://www.tiktok.com/discovery/Bought-beyonce-ticket-or-rent?lang=en), especially ubiquitous after tickets for the Renaissance World Tour went on sale last month, Dre spends thousands of dollars she needs for rent on a pair of concert passes for herself and Marissa. [overall deal](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/donald-glover-sets-rich-amazon-overall-deal-exclusive-4134497/) with Amazon; future projects include a [reimagining](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/maya-erskine-donald-glover-mrs-and-mrs-smith-series-amazon-1235227485/) of Mr. There’s no need to bother with the pretense that Ni’Jah, the pop star at the center of the new Amazon series Swarm, is “a Beyoncé-like figure” or some other euphemism. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is intentional.” (The emphases are mine, though they’re strongly implied.) Ni’Jah—a mononymous musician whose fans call her “queen” and “goddess,” who surprise drops visual albums that take over the internet, and whose husband and sister are public figures in their own right—doesn’t resemble Beyoncé.

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Image courtesy of "Dexerto"

Is Swarm based on a true story? (Dexerto)

Swarm stars Dominique Fishback as Andrea Green (who goes by Dre), a young woman obsessed with superstar Ni'Jah (Nirine S. Brown). Her fandom is known as The ...

However, Dre herself is not based on a real serial killer. Not much of it is fabricated.” “So it’s really not a work of fiction. At the start of each episode, there’s a disclaimer that reads: “This is not a work of fiction. Her fandom is known as The Swarm, but Dre isn’t just any fan – think of her as a Gen Z Annie Wilkes. Is Swarm based on a true story?

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Image courtesy of "Billboard"

Billie Eilish Is Very Scary in 'Swarm' Series Teaser (Billboard)

The show also features Paris Jackson, Chloe Bailey, Damson Idris, Rickey Thompson, Rory Culkin, Kiersey Clemons and Byron Bowers. All seven episodes of the show ...

“I really wanted to stretch myself as an actor,” said the 31-year-old actress. “What color was the milk?,” Eilish’s character asks with a sweetly sinister look on her face. milk spilled on the carpet,” Dre says.

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Image courtesy of "cosmopolitan.com"

Billie Eilish makes acting debut in Swarm and fans are saying the ... (cosmopolitan.com)

Billie Eilish has made her surprise acting debut in Prime Video's Swarm and fans are praising her performance.

In a trailer shared on Thursday (16th March), we see Eva asking Dre personal then creepy questions and Billie’s fans are taking to social media to praise her acting skills. So impressed and incredibly honoured to be your first scene partner !!!!” [Billie Eilish](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/beauty-hair/celebrity-hair-makeup/a43304760/billie-eilish-jellyfish-haircut/) is best-known for her sultry vocals and award-winning songwriting skills, but now, she is delving into the world of acting.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Swarm review – Donald Glover's Beyoncé-inspired serial killer satire ... (The Guardian)

The Atlanta creator is clearly targeting Knowles obsessives in this menacing series about the dark side of music fandom. But its point is obvious and its ...

Dre is a slightly patronising cartoon of a lonely outcast, her naivety and awkwardness constantly pushed to the max as she glowers stroppily at everyone. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is intentional.” In an episode falteringly styled as a true-crime documentary, following the only cop in the US who has identified Dre as the likely culprit for a string of murders, Swarm goes archly meta, with Ni’Jah defictionalised and replaced by the real Beyoncé, her name bleeped out when characters say it but easily lip-readable. She works in a strip club, bonding uneasily with her fellow dancers and initially frightening off punters with her clunking gait and insistence on dancing to sad Ni’Jah ballads. She gets a new credit card to buy front-row Ni’Jah tickets she is nowhere near being able to afford, and is devastated when Marissa – who used to be as keen a member of the Swarm, the Ni’jah fan collective, as Dre still is – does not want to accompany her to the gig because she is well into her 20s now and has moved on. [Watchmen](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/oct/21/watchmen-review-the-perfect-superhero-story-for-our-tattered-times-hbo-alan-moore) and [Atlanta](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/jun/29/donald-glover-atlanta-season-three-review-this-peerless-shows-impact-will-live-forever) – sets up a mood of flickering menace. If that doesn’t make it a must-watch, or at least a must-try, Glover’s parallel career as the rapper Childish Gambino increases the intrigue: Swarm is about the dark side of music fandom, and if anyone can turn that into art, you would think Glover can.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

'Swarm' delivers a stinging satire about excessive fandom (CNN)

The producers of "Swarm," a new Amazon series co-created by Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, have issued a "Do not spoil" list that precludes detailing much ...

And the gist of it, ultimately, is the corrosive effects of engaging in blind hero worship, basically turning one’s life over to somebody that you don’t even know. “Swarm,” too, is almost defiantly weird, in a mish-mash of styles and themes that draws from biting satire, understated comedy and most pointedly of all, horror, in a way that recalls some of Jordan Peele’s post-“Get Out” films. But there is a lot to be said about the limited series’ provocative view of fan culture, and how such loyalty can turn into obsession.

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Image courtesy of "elle.com"

Billie Eilish Makes Her Surprise TV Debut In Beyoncé-Inspired ... (elle.com)

The multi-award-winning singer appears as a creepy cult leader in Donald Glover's latest series, streaming now on Prime. Here's everything you need to know:

[Billie Eilish](https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/celebrity-style/g38581112/billie-eilish-style-file/) already has an impressive seven Grammys, three Brits, one [Academy Award](https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/g30831492/oscars-best-dressed/) and countless hit songs under her belt – but never one to rest on her laurels, the singer-songwriter is now also adding 'actor' to her ever-expanding list of talents. Eilish was also spotted earlier this week attending the Swarm premiere in Los Angeles, wearing an oversized black-and-white suit ensemble. [Beyoncé](https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/a42614686/beyonce-ukrainan-designer-atlantis-the-royal-hotel/).

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Image courtesy of "GamesRadar+"

Donald Glover's new Prime Video show Swarm is being called ... (GamesRadar+)

The new psychological horror show Swarm has been landing great reviews as it debuts on Amazon Prime Video. The series, created by Donald Glover and Janine ...

[wrote](https://twitter.com/Hopesloop/status/1636409106289541120) (opens in new tab). [Variety](https://variety.com/2023/tv/reviews/swarm-review-dominique-fishback-beyonce-inspired-thriller-1235555140/) (opens in new tab) praised Fishback’s performance in their review. Another [tweeted](https://twitter.com/mrcjprice193/status/1636564564333547520) (opens in new tab): "Swarm is the Stan Twitter version of American Psycho… [TVLine](https://tvline.com/2023/03/15/swarm-review-amazon-donald-glover-dominique-fishback/) (opens in new tab)’s Dave Nemetz. [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/swarm-review-dominique-fishback-1235348155/) (opens in new tab)’s Daniel Fienberg wrote: "Without getting into spoilers, there are episodes of Swarm that are disturbing and shockingly violent and others that are ridiculously funny (and maybe still shockingly violent)." The new psychological horror show Swarm has been landing great reviews as it debuts on Amazon Prime Video.

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Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

'Swarm' Review: The Underside of 'Atlanta' (The New York Times)

In a new series on Amazon Prime Video, Donald Glover shifts from comedy with touches of horror to horror with grace notes of comedy.

Fishback, best known for playing a levelheaded prostitute turned porn star in the HBO series “The Deuce,” keeps our sympathies with Dre throughout the show’s ups and downs. In the early episodes, she gives Dre a timid, recessive quality, acting out of the corners of her eyes, but she also suggests a stubborn resolve that turns into confidence once Dre starts killing people. (An additional motif of the show is the stream of people, usually white, who for their own reasons reach out to Dre offering a pretense of understanding or protection.) Another goes the full bottle-episode route, presenting an installment of a mock true-crime series, which can be taken as commentary on the way media culture exploits disturbed people’s distress but also serves to stitch up loose ends and lurch the plot ahead before the season finale. Glover created “Swarm” with Janine Nabers, who was a writer and co-executive producer on “Atlanta”; other “Atlanta” alums, including Glover’s brother, the writer Stephen Glover, have moved to the new show as well. In the show’s best moments, the premise serves as an attention-grabbing, plot-propelling armature for a story that promises, for a while at least, to be more interesting than that. That “Swarm” is only intermittently successful doesn’t make it any easier to look away from the screen.

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Image courtesy of "TIME"

Let's Talk About <i>Swarm</i>'s Deeply Ambiguous Ending(s) (TIME)

If you've finished streaming Swarm, Donald Glover and Janine Nabers' Amazon horror comedy about a young woman's murderous obsession with a pop star who is ...

And [this](https://time.com/6260421/tennessee-limiting-drag-shows-status-of-anti-drag-bills-u-s/), it almost goes without saying, is a [pretty](https://time.com/6262140/west-virginia-transgender-care-ban/) [horrendous](https://time.com/6258586/utah-transgender-bill-essay/) [moment](https://time.com/6261992/a-recent-move-by-the-white-house-gives-the-lgbtq-community-reason-to-worry/) to resurrect it. And her repressed desire for women is alluded to in early episodes; she caresses Marissa’s skin and grows uneasy around a lesbian couple in the wellness cult. They are already part of a fiction within the world where Loretta’s documentary is reality, which is in turn a fiction within the real world where you, I, and all other viewers of Swarm exist. [Billie Eilish](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095808/billie-eilish-pioneer/)’s white-woman wellness cult, an equally unhinged mirror image of Dre and the rest of the Swarm’s Ni’jah obsession. Would there really be enough time after Rashida comes home at the end of a workday for Tony to surprise her with the tickets, kill her after she rejects them, snooze for a bit, burn the body, drive to the Ni’jah concert, murder a scalper, and enter the venue just in time to catch her idol’s performance? As a different ideal of Black womanhood, Loretta is the matronly, earthbound version of Ni’jah, who is of course a stand-in for a real woman named Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter who really is worshiped as a goddess. (It’s probably worth noting that “Fallin’” shares a co-writer, Karen Joseph Adcock, with Atlanta’s great season 4 mockumentary, “The Goof Who Sat by the Door.”) This suggests that the other episodes of Swarm are supposed to exist as fiction in a world where Loretta and the documentary are nonfiction, rather than as a straightforward account of events unfolding in “real life.” This is crucial to understand, going into a truly wild finale. So of course she winds up dead on her beloved Anthropologie couch, after refusing to accompany Tony to a Ni’jah show on the night of their anniversary and blowing up at him for spending rent money on such pricey tickets. In a sense, each imagines its own alternate ending to Dre’s murder spree—one apparently grounded in the facts of a true-crime case and the other the ultimate fantasy-come-true for a fan who makes Where Dre is cold, lonely, violent, and brittle, Loretta—a widow who’s shown, early in the doc, feeding a home-cooked breakfast to her two children—comes off as warm, community-minded, nurturing, resilient. [Donald Glover](https://time.com/4465184/donald-glover-atlanta-childish-gambino/) and Janine Nabers’ Amazon horror comedy about a young woman’s murderous obsession with a pop star who is clearly meant to mirror [Beyoncé](https://time.com/5793791/beyonce-100-women-of-the-year/), allow me to welcome you to the land of Huh?! Brown throughout the show, in which she’s usually observed from afar, now has the face of Dre’s best friend and adoptive sister Marissa ( [Chloe Bailey](https://time.com/5851399/chloe-x-halle-time-100-talks-protests/)), who kills herself in the premiere.

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Image courtesy of "USA TODAY"

Is 'Swarm' based on a true story? And has Beyoncé seen the bloody ... (USA TODAY)

In Amazon Prime Video's horror comedy (all seven episodes now streaming), "Judas and the Black Messiah" breakout Dominique Fishback plays Dre, a crazed fan of a ...

Glover echoed praise for Obama in an interview with [Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/01/donald-glover-show-swarm-first-look). Asked at SXSW whether Beyoncé has seen the show, Nabers answered, "Of course," but declined to elaborate further. "Swarm" in no way tries to hide its Beyoncé influences, with fictional pop star Ni'Jah recreating almost exact images from Queen B's "Renaissance" and "Everything is Love" eras. [Dominique Fishback](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/10/18/5-new-faces-fall-tv-breakout-stars/771451001/) plays Dre, a crazed fan of a Beyoncé-like pop star named Ni'Jah (Nirine S. ["The Little Mermaid" star Halle Bailey](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/03/06/halle-bailey-emotiona-reaction-little-mermaid-doll-reveal/11415374002/). "I feel like she's just somebody who's going to have really good things coming soon." You may spot a notable name among the show's creative team: Malia Obama, daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama. Singer/model Paris Jackson is daughter of the late Michael Jackson and portrays a stripper who befriends Dre. She also brought out Glover, who goes by stage name Childish Gambino, to perform at her concert in Inglewood, California, last December. Brown) [who takes her obsession to murderous extremes](https://www.amazon.com/Swarm-Season-1/dp/B0B8NLVH1L). The show is inspired in part by an urban legend that circulated online following the release of Beyoncé's 2016 album "Lemonade," which hints at husband Jay-Z's alleged infidelity. Here's everything you need to know about the series, which co-stars Billie Eilish and is co-written by Malia Obama:

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Image courtesy of "Decider"

Billie Eilish Kills It In Her Acting Debut as a Cult Leader in Donald ... (Decider)

Billie Eilish appears in Episode 4 of 'Swarm', Donald Glover and Janine Nabers thriller for Amazon Prime Video.

The more time Dre spends with Cricket and the rest of the women, the more she realizes that this isn’t just a nice group of friends. She plays the role with enough sincerity and intensity that you immediately enter Dre’s headspace enough to wonder if this woman is just a nice ally? [Donald Glover ](https://decider.com/tag/donald-glover)and [Janine Nabers](https://decider.com/tag/janine-nabers), Swarm follows one young women who becomes unhealthily obsessed with a pop star by the name of Ni’Jah (Nirine S. If you’ve seen even a minute of this series, you know it isn’t long before that nice offer descends into a dark and darkly funny nightmare. After noticing a police officer harassing Dre, Cricket scares him off and insists that Dre come stay with her and her friends. [Swarm](https://decider.com/show/swarm/) is one of those shows that defies expectations at every turn.

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Image courtesy of "Dexerto"

Who does Billie Eilish play in Swarm? (Dexerto)

Swarm stars Dominique Fishback as Andrea Green (who goes by Dre), a young woman obsessed with superstar Ni'Jah (Nirine S. Brown). Her fandom is known as The ...

Who does Billie Eilish play in Swarm? Nabers added: “She got here in and their chemistry was actually great. She got here in with concepts, wanting to speak about it, being recreation to rehearse,” Fishback told Both Fishback and Nabers commended Eilish for her performance and work ethic. Eva is directly inspired by Keith Raniere, the imprisoned co-founder of NXIVM, a notorious cult-like self-help corporation. Her fandom is known as The Swarm, but Dre isn’t just any fan – think of her as a Gen Z Annie Wilkes.

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Image courtesy of "Roger Ebert"

Swarm movie review & film summary (2023) | Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert)

Her Houstonian character Dre is willing to max out credit cards for concert tickets, just as much as she's ready to murder online trolls to defend the ...

[The King of Comedy](/reviews/the-king-of-comedy-1983)"), Patrick Bateman (" [American Psycho](/reviews/american-psycho-2000)"), and Arthur Fleck (" [Joker](/reviews/joker-movie-review-2019)"). [Night Comes On](/reviews/night-comes-on-2018)" to " [Judas and the Black Messiah](/reviews/judas-and-the-black-messiah-film-review)." [Dominique Fishback ](/cast-and-crew/dominique-fishback)as Dre [Chloe Bailey ](/cast-and-crew/chloe-bailey)as Marissa [Nirine S. ), [Ibra Ake](/cast-and-crew/ibra-ake), and [Stephen Glover](/cast-and-crew/stephen-glover), establish a sound idea of this grounded but bizarre tone, complemented by a rich soundscape. Much of the show will become about Dre navigating different living spaces, passing through the country like Henry in " [Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer](/reviews/henry-portrait-of-a-serial-killer-1990)." And the show's irascible course of events becomes all the wilder when "Swarm" riffs on the

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Image courtesy of "Screen Rant"

Is Donald Glover's Swarm Show Based On A True Story? (Screen Rant)

Swarm stars Dominique Fishback as Dre and Chloe Bailey as Dre's sister Marissa. Dre is obsessed with the R&B artist Nijah and her love for the singer takes a ...

[Another ironic aspect of Swarm](https://screenrant.com/spiderman-donald-glover-villain-role-miles-morales-mcu/) that relates it to real life is casting Jackson as Hailey. The warning in the show is mocking real-life Beyoncé fans for taking their love for the singer too far, showing them where they might be headed if they don't calm down. The popstar's loyal Swifties have their own saying, "Tayvoodoo," which they believe is the cause for the fall of Taylor's haters like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. The show seems to focus less on the artist herself and more on the wild behavior of her followers. The show can also relate to some other massive fanbases like those of Korean pop band BTS and There have been countless times when criticism of the singer has been met with death threats and bee emojis.

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Image courtesy of "Los Angeles Times"

Showrunner, star explain bizarre ending of 'Swarm' TV show (Los Angeles Times)

'Swarm' showrunner Janine Nabers and star Dominique Fishback break down Prime Video's horror/comedy about a murderous fan, premiering Friday.

I think I got what I came for and we can lay that to rest. Nabers: You look at all of the things she’s done to get to where she is, and it’s a devastating moment because you don’t know the reality of it. Fishback: I feel really proud of Dre, of the humor that I got to exhibit with this role. It begins with Chloe and it ends with Ni’Jah. Can you talk about the decision to do it that way? Dominique Fishback: Ni’Jah represents somebody who happens to have the language and ability to express it in a way that Dre felt heard. So I think that “bloodlust” was just the desire to feel something. They leave together in her waiting limo and Ni’Jah envelops Dre in a warm embrace. Like this series is [billed as being] “not a work of fiction”: You’re watching actors re-create events that happened [within] a 2 1/2 year period. And then meeting Marissa, to find somebody that equally loves this person as much as she did, it just solidified that relationship. ‘We never set out to tell the history of the Cheeto,’ Longoria said. Janine Nabers: Ni’Jah represents a sense of purpose, a sense of acceptance.

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Image courtesy of "Economic Times"

Billie Eilish makes acting debut in thriller series 'Swarm'. See details (Economic Times)

Billie Eilish surprises fans with her acting debut in Donald Glovers thriller series “Swarm” on Amazon Prime Video. Eilish's performance in the series was ...

The views expressed here are that of the respective authors/ entities and do not represent the views of Economic Times (ET). Eilish has since won several [Grammy Awards](/topic/grammy-awards), including the prestigious Album of the Year award for "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" Nabers added that the team was drawn to multi-talented individuals, who are passionate about various things, making Eilish an ideal addition to the cast. [Eilish](/topic/eilish)has made a surprise acting debut in Donald Glover's latest thriller series, " [Swarm](/topic/swarm)," which premiered on [Amazon Prime Video](/topic/amazon-prime-video)on Friday. Nabers revealed that they were searching for someone to play the part and Cuba suggested Eilish. [Ocean Eyes](/topic/ocean-eyes)," in 2016.

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Image courtesy of "TIME"

A Comprehensive Guide to All the Beyoncé References in Swarm (TIME)

The new Prime Video horror comedy co-created by Donald Glover makes no secret of its allusions to the megastar. Here's an episode by episode guide.

- Dre gets close with one of the staff members on Caché’s tour so she can get access to a party. Beyoncé’s name is never mentioned; the text at the beginning reads, “Some names have been redacted for legal purposes.” The detective, Loretta Greene, starts to notice a pattern with victims making disparaging comments about what we can assume is Beyoncé because, again, her name is bleeped or blurred out. Tiffany Haddish told GQ in March 2018 that someone did the same thing to Beyoncé at a party celebrating 4:44. He throws a party to celebrate the end of his tour. - Dre is also wearing an athleisure set with the words “Honey” on the bands. - Caché goes on tour for a new album, and the tour is called the First Last Tour, following Ni’Jah’s Festival album. Some of the aesthetic elements of Ni’Jah’s video are akin to videos Beyoncé released for the Disney remake, while the horse Ni’Jah rides seems like a reference to the horse on the Renaissance album cover, which the BeyHive on Twitter has aptly nicknamed It’s a shot-for-shot recreation of the In Beyoncé’s 2013 documentary, she revealed that she had a miscarriage and wrote “the saddest song [she’s] ever written in [her] life.” The The show follows Dre, a young woman who bonds with her sister and roommate, Marissa, over their mutual love of a fictional pop superstar named Ni’Jah as members of the Swarm—a nod to Beyoncé’s BeyHive. Every episode of the show, Donald Glover’s first since Atlanta, opens with text that reads: “This is not a work of fiction. We combed through every episode of the new series, which is now streaming, to find every time Ni’Jah’s life or career mirrored Beyoncé’s, compiling a thorough guide to reference as you watch.

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Image courtesy of "Vulture"

Swarm Series-Premiere Recap: Killer Bey (Vulture)

“Who's your favorite artist?” is the question Swarm poses in its first moment. If you're Dre (Dominique Fishback) and Marissa (Chloe Bailey), ...

Dre makes a run for it in the post-murder confusion, leaving the strippers to answer for the death. In the beginning, like Khalid says, she covers herself up with only a hint of something sexy hiding away, like the body suit puffer jacket combo she wore at the mall, versus what she wears when at the club dancing to the Festival drop or when she’s performing to Ni’Jah at the strip club when she’s totally bare, wearing her emotions on the outside. Dre is now officially a murderer on the run, but she’s also on a mission, which finds her working at a strip club in Fayetteville, Tennessee, in 2017. [told](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-03-10/donald-glover-janine-nabers-swarm-beyhive) the Los Angeles Times that Dre is completely fictional, but they’ve “taken real internet rumors, real murders and combined them in the narrative of our main character, Dre. Their codependency comes to a head when Dre nearly misses covering Marissa’s shift at the T-shirt kiosk in the mall and then leaves the kiosk unattended (to talk with Khalid, of all people), resulting in it getting robbed and vandalized. She visits him at his dad’s house, and they talk about his absence from Marissa’s funeral before Dre attacks him from behind, bashing his head in with a vase before impulsively eating a pie with her bare, bloody hands. At the funeral, Dre is asked to leave at the family’s request, even though she also claims to be family. When Marissa has to bail Dre out, she confronts Dre about the codependent nature of their relationship and announces she’s moving in with Khalid. From her throaty voice to the visuals she releases, it’s not a secret who Ni’Jah is based on — and Dre and Marissa are two sisters who share a love for her. It’s evident that Dre is socially awkward (and a bit creepy), while Marissa is well-adjusted (at least comparatively). If you’re Dre (Dominique Fishback) and Marissa (Chloe Bailey), it’s the Ni’Jah, Swarm’s version of Beyoncé. When Lemonade dropped in 2016, a now-debunked news article [circulated](https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/swarm-tv-show-review-sxsw/?amp) about a woman named Marissa Jackson, who supposedly committed suicide after listening to the project.

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Image courtesy of "TVLine"

'Swarm' Recap Episode 7 — Season Finale Ending Explained (TVLine)

Rabid fandom takes a deadly turn in Prime Video's wildly entertaining satirical horror series Swarm. Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) stars as ...

“What she sees in that moment is a manifestation of a lot of the things that she’s been dealing with, especially from the pilot, that set her on this journey to begin with.” [In] a lot of Criterion movies, which inspired the aesthetic of the show, there is that open-endedness to it. “When you look at the ending of Atlanta for Season 4, that ending was also a little ambiguous,” she concludes. It was really just taking a lot of that and channeling it through a character like Dre so that people can understand who she is as a Black woman and why she is doing what she’s doing and stopping at nothing for the sake of another Black woman.” “At the end of the day, this is about a woman going through grief in her own way,” Naders shares. In the season finale, Dre’s feverish reverence for Ni’jah culminates in her leaping on stage at a concert and almost being escorted out before Ni’jah intervenes.

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Image courtesy of "CBC.ca"

Donald Glover's Swarm takes fan fiction to a whole new level | CBC ... (CBC.ca)

Culture writers Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Jen Sookfong Lee and Kevin Fallon discuss: 1) Donald Glover's new show Swarm (and the new Childish Gambino music he ...

And, I think that is part of the comfort of Ted Lasso. Elamin: There's been another big story this week that I want to talk about, which is the surprising retirement announcement of the stylist, Law Roach. Elamin: That word, "nice," comes up a lot when we're talking about Ted Lasso, and I think it's fair because the way that I would generally describe Ted Lasso is it's comedy for people who have been to therapy, you know? You know, Jamie went from this pompous ass to one of the sweetest characters on the show, and [Nate] is kind of doing that in reverse. Jen: The whole football thing is not in my wheelhouse, but I did watch a few episodes and I thought it was charming. Kathleen, there is a shift in tone, though, and we should talk about that shift in tone because the show got a little bit less lighthearted in season two. And, we see the way that things become better for people when they start looking for the good and looking for the light in things. We create stories about the celebrities in our heads, so it doesn't take much; it's only a couple of steps to imagine that this could go too far and that any of us, under the right circumstances, could begin to think that this sort of unrequited relationship is actually a reciprocal one. I think that's what is making Swarm like such a hot topic of discussion, because the best horror and thriller stories are when the horrific situation being presented to you could actually happen to you. She said that as a dark-skinned Black woman, she doesn't get to see a lot of representation in the world of entertainment, so when she does see herself in someone, she'll follow them to the end of the earth. One of the people that you talked to is Janine Nabers, who co-created this new show. Elamin: One of my favorite things about my social media feeds is that [Kathleen], it's like you're the Arsenio Hall of red carpets.

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Image courtesy of "The Onion (satire)"

Donald Glover Confirms Barron Trump Will Be Writing On 'Swarm ... (The Onion (satire))

LOS ANGELES—Stating that his latest hire was sure to take the storyline in fascinating new directions, Donald Glover confirmed Friday that Barron Trump ...

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