In a generation full of superhero and Marvel movies that take the box office by storm,Donald Glover’speculiar eccentricity as the creator and executive producer ofSwarmmay exactly be what fans of abnormal horror needed. When it comes to short films and series, Glover lives in his own world of invigorating creativity. Behind his ideas is a tamed insanity that results in a dark yet colorful brilliance in film.
Working with acute intention, he consciously creates a screen that is full of some of the modern-day’s freshest scenarios that are fueled by his passion for expression. Not only does Glover have a lane of his own in the industry, but his creativity also sets standards for filmmakers alike. Though he has given film and television memorable performances in series likeCommunityandAtlantain which he won two Golden Globe and Emmy Awards, his precise eye for enlivening the set with a distinct and original imagination has led him to various successes while becoming a writer and producer.
Some of Glover’s filmmaking includes his musical film featuring Rihanna and him as the lead characters,Guava Island. He also created and wrote the short filmClapping for the Wrong Reasonswhich starred Chance The Rapper and Trinidad James. Next would come his short series,Swarm, where Glover portrays the inner demons of a star-struck woman with enthusiastic ingenuity.
InSwarm,super-fan of singer Queen Ni’jah, Andrea Greene, will seemingly do anything to see her favorite star perform, and we mean, anything. Though Dre is somewhat aloof mentally, her focus on Queen Ni’jah is all that she has surrendered for. As she celebrates the life and influence of her favorite singer, Dre finds herself amid trouble as she crosses borders to see her Queen on stage. Through mystery and murder, will Dre ever be able to meet the woman who keeps the blood in her veins flowing?
Dre and Marissa’s Relationship
As an outcast, Dre was far from being like her naturally beautiful andpopular foster sister, Marissa. Though there were plenty of reasons to be jealous of her, Dre worshiped the ground that Marissa walked on. She cared about her, loved her, and tried to warn her of her boyfriend’s disrespect before it was too late. Essentially, Marissa is Dre’s only friend, serving as the main relationship throughout her entire life. This gives her reason to mourn when Marissa appears dead after days of fighting with Dre.
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It all started when Dre was late for work, almost Marissa to be fired, as Marissa would often get her jobs alongside her. Marissa finally breaks her silence on how much of a helicopter friend Dre was, giving her little to no room to breathe. Though Marissa chooses to stay at her boyfriend’s house in the meantime, Dre would have had it any other way, especially since Khalid, Marissa’s boyfriend, had attempted to be intimate with Dre behind her back.
Losing Marissa is the turning and breaking point for Dre. Having nobody else, she has nothing to lose. Would Marissa have committed suicide had Dre and her not been in a fight? Could Dre have prevented Marissa’s death? Having nothing and no one to turn to at this point, Dre takes her anger out on the first person she sees fit. But it doesn’t stop there.
Who’s Your Favorite Singer?
As a bee who is part of Queen Ni’jah’s swarm, the tagline “Who’s your favorite singer?” becomes a steady question throughout the series. Though she was a constant in her life before, Marissa’s death made Queen Ni’jah the main focal point for Dre, resulting in Dre going mad, as she has yet to heal from losing her foster sister, let alone reconcile with being disliked by most people she met. Identifying with Queen Ni’jah leaves Dre obsessed, so when she comes in contact with a new person, she is quick to ask them about their favorite singer. If they answer accordingly, they’re safe. If they act like Queen Ni’jah is underrated, well, they best watch their back, because Dre is reckless when it comes to her affinity for the singer.
Dre Cleaning Puddles of Blood
When it comes to murder, Dre didn’t just stop at avenging Marissa’s death. Anyone who went against Queen Ni’jah was destined to die. But when bystanders who weren’t even part of Dre’s anger got caught in the middle of her rage, there wasno stopping her murderous ways. What’s more, when Dre kills a man in his mansion for tweeting his dislike for Queen Ni’jah and her twenty-six Grammys, she becomes so mentally disconnected from reality, that she cleans his puddles of blood up while singing and dancing to Ni’jah’s music — something only a psychopath could do.
Dre Is Recruited Into a Women’s Cult
On her way to Bonnaroo to see Queen Ni’jah perform, Dre comes across Cricket, a strange and wholesome person. They met at a gas station market where Cricket waved off the police officer who was following Dre. What was to come could have been bad karma for Dre, had she not taken herself out of the situation sooner, but Dre knows instability when she sees it, as she is first class in risky behavior.
When Dre tells Cricket she’s going to sleep in her car before the music festival, Cricket is quick to offer a “helping” hand. She, unknown to Dre, is the leader of a women’s cult and has Dre bunk in her retreat until Dre comes to her senses. While at Cricket’s, Dre comes across multiple free-spirited women who host workshops to become one with themselves. On one particular occasion, Dre is given therapy to unlock her female potential from cult member, Eva. Eva attempts to break Dre’s hard exterior down, resulting in Dre revealing her real name and the unfortunate event of losing her sister. Feeling exposed and manipulated, Dre goes back to what she knows best — murder.
Upon leaving the retreat, Dre leaves nothing but her shame behind. Though the women’s cult was asking for a bond from Dre, whether it be a secret or a sacrifice, Dre takes matters into her own hands. She leaves late at night after her phone was taken from her belongings,having run over cult membersalong the way. Now, not even a backstage pass from Eva could even hold her back, as Dre was going to meet Queen Ni’jah on her own accord.
Dre Breaks Into Marissa’s Family Home
Just when you think Dre is going to tear apart everything from shelf to picture frame, she stays tamed in the one place where Marissa’s memory stays alive. After going to the mall to have Marissa’s phone turned back on, Dre begs and still gets told no. She then runs into an old friend, who she tells a made-up story of where she’s been and how she’s been doing. This somehow gives Dre comfort to visit her family home in hopes of having her foster father, Harris, turn the phone back on, which has evidence of both her crimes and Marissa’s death.
When Dre leaves the light on, her foster mother realizes Drehas likely broken in, so when she appears in her sight, she’s unafraid. Soon, Harris comes downstairs with a gun. Dre then draws her own handle and Harris continues to threaten her until she leaves, walking behind her while pointing the trigger straight at her back. She escaped out of his vision for a moment, running free through the home. Dre then falls two stories high from the top floor of the house, running away from flying bullets. Though it took time to convince her, it was then clear to Dre that Marissa’s phone would not be turned back on. Could this be the last of Dre, would the evidence of her crimes come back to haunt her?
A Detective Investigates Rising Crime in the Area
With so much crime throughout the area, it was no surprise that a detective would soon make their way onto the scene. After receiving a call about a murder with no backstory, Detective Loretta Greene takes on the case. She then started to piece together information about a string of murders around the Texas area. First, the mystery of a suicide and murder led Detective Greene to think that there was a motive behind the murders. This suicide-murder was that of Marissa and her boyfriend, Khalid, whom Dre killed.
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Detective Greene then gainsmore information into the murderthat took place with four remaining witnesses, one of which talked. She spoke of Dre’s disappearance after leaving her and three other women at a murder scene. This leads Detective Greene to finally have a lead on what the criminal looks like. She shows a photo of Dre to the witness and to her surprise, it was exactly who she thought it was. Not only does Detective Greene have confirmation on the murderer’s appearance, but she has also tethered together a trail of tweets pertaining to those who were murdered, all of which said negative things about Queen Ni’jah. Now the motive was reality, Detective Greene had just about all the information she would need to arrest Dre. If only she could find her…
Dre Changes Her Name Multiple Times
As Dre moves from town to town, she takes on new personas and names. Needing to protect her identity due to thecountless murders she commits, the name changes are the only thing that is allowing her to get away with her crime. What’s interesting is when Dre was at the retreat with Eva, Eva does therapy with her to help her identify better with who she really is, making Dre say her name with every snap of the finger.
Though she identifies most notably as Dre, she’s gone by Andrea, Shanice, Penelope, Carmen, Kayla, and Tony. Her disguise as Carmen is what got her caught up with Detective Greene, giving her only two more identities to think of before an end would come to her murder spree. The most interesting persona she took on was Tony, a tomboy who befriends a graduate student named Rashida. The two date for some time before their relationship comes falling down with Rashida’s life along with it.
Dre Meets Queen Ni’jah
After accidentally biting Queen Ni’jah’s face at an after-party thrown by her husband, Dre is convinced she has to apologize to her to make things right. She will do anything to get to her show, even if that means killing everyone who gets in her way. Her love for Queen Ni’jah not only triggers her mental instability, but it also gives her the acceptance she never had. However, when news gets out about a string of killings that are related to being a fan of Queen Ni’jah, the “swarm”that was once her safe space becomes a distant group of cynics who are now against whoever is killing all the innocent people. Dre also doesn’t have her beloved phone which she spent hours every day devoted to Queen Ni’jah accounts, giving her ample time to easily continue her crime.
Though it seemed undoable because of finances, Dre finally gets the opportunity to see Queen Ni’jah perform. But not after killing a couple more people who disagreed withher love for the singer, including her girlfriend Rashida. When Dre finally gets to her place in the crowd of bees, she somehow makes her way onto the stage with Queen Ni’jah. They embrace without caution and surprisingly enough, Queen Ni’jah invites Dre backstage and into her limo after the show. Could Queen Ni’jah have recognized Dre from the after-party? Did she know who Dre was? These questions go unanswered, but Dre ends up exactly where she wanted to be, in the arms of her Queen.
ThoughSwarmhas excerpts throughout the series stating that the information about what goes on is factual and based off of a real person, the entire show is indeed made up. Donald Glover did an exceptional job of creating realism through fiction and the visuals were just as good as the narrative he created. The story of Dre may be over, as it is likely to not be a second season, but fans of Glover’s can unite on various streaming platforms to watch his unique take on film.
