Swarm

Fishback rarely plays into the laughs the character’s absurd psychosis generates. She’s a frightening, wounded core around which the show’s snarling satire of media madness swirls. Dre’s also a deceptively blank slate for both a condescending Black community and clueless white people to project their misunderstandings onto, often hilariously.

It’s a spellbinding horror story about our fascination with celebrities and the loneliness and isolation many feel when they are stuck on the outside of a star’s inner circle. ... Expect Fishback to be collecting awards for her take-no-prisoners performance.

It’s the tension between the show’s satirical elements and what it tries to achieve outside of them that makes it so engaging.

Swarm is an incredibly bizarre series that’s definitely going to split opinion, and it’s easy to imagine a lot of people failing to make it to the end. That being said, if you can get on the same wavelength of such a strikingly unique, relentlessly eccentric, oftentimes emotionally manipulative, and relentlessly singular approach, then cult favorite status surely beckons.

Fishback menacingly gleams in an incredible performance. ... Too committed to its goal of depicting a scandalous faction of fandom while making a light mockery of the world around it to really come away with much of a point—or even an engaging question. ... When Swarm lets go of its premise a little, that actually helps it achieve its goal, allowing us to finally cash in on the show’s promise.

As a showcase for Fishback, Swarm is ideal. As cultural criticism, it can be intriguing and occasionally profound. But in its psychological underpinnings, the show conflates identity with pathology in some truly facile, potentially destructive ways. Although this is hardly the only charge that could put Glover in the crosshairs of the BeyHive, it’s the one that makes me doubt Swarm was worth the trouble.

We watch, we cringe, we can't relate, and in the end it is not just meaningless but a bloody bore. Dominique Fishback, brilliant but ultimately wasted. ... The attempt by the show's creators to find some unexplored middle ground between wry comedy and outright horror is seldom successful, nor is their haphazard navigation between reality and dreams.

Very surprised by this series. 'Swarm' portrays the obsessive compulsion of a woman in an original and gory way. Dominique Fishback is great. Loved the reality show meta episode. The clever narrative gives you something to think about regarding the relationship between fanatism and mental disorders.

An interesting portrait of obsession that touches on issues that should be questioned by people who suffer from the unhealthy mania of fanaticism that afflicts the main character and which in my view is one of the most significant things about its plot. Especially because of the trauma that triggers it. On the other hand, there is also a noticeable plot deadlock when the main character stops advancing. Every episode her situation changes, but she doesn't. She remains the same killer until the end of her more than ambiguous conclusion and therefore the story loses freshness and the focus becomes exhausted because you can only wait to see in the last episodes who she is going to kill and what was the reason that provoked her. It's worth a look. It's still interesting despite its flaws, but expectations should be lowered.

Despite the breathtaking performance delivered by Dominique Fishback as a deranged and misunderstood stan, Swarm suffers from a lust for all-encompassing inclusion when it comes to the subject matter.

I hardly ever say this, but ignore the mixed critic's reviews. This show is so brilliant. It really shows us what happens when "stan" culture goes to far. And the producers don't hold back. They do, however let the audience down with the anti-climactic ending. Just unsatisfactory. For that reason, I give it a 6 instead of a 9.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]