The recently-concluded Atlanta regularly explored the themes of race, poverty, and fame, and also had outstanding performances, sound design, and cinematography to boot. It pushed and remolded boundaries and also triggered the resurgence of Afro-surrealism in Hollywood along with films like Get Out and Sorry to Bother You. Atlanta was simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking. And if you have been hankering for more Donald Glover and that Atlanta haze in your life, then there’s good news. You won't even have to wait for the Community reboot.
Glover has teamed up with playwright and television writer Janine Nabers (Atlanta, Watchmen, UnReal) to present a brand new series Swarm. The sister (or so it feels because of the show’s overlapping crew and tonality) series to Atlanta, is shot on film and will feature Dominique Fishback in the lead.
Here is everything we know so far about Swarm.
Swarm: The Plot
Swarm follows the journey of Dre (Fishback), a young woman consumed by her obsession with a fictional pop star modeled after the iconic Beyoncé. Swarm (the name itself resonates with Beyoncé’s fandom, the Bey Hive) explores the darker side of stan culture and fandoms in the day and age of the internet.
Under the guidance of showrunner Janine Nabers, a resident of Houston — home to music legends like Beyoncé, Lizzo, and Megan Thee Stallion — and the creative vision of Glover, who has witnessed and experienced (as his rap alter ego Childish Gambino) the dark and complex dynamics of parasocial fan relationships, this series promises to delve into the mysterious and twisted depths of Dre's mind.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Glover mentioned how the work of Isabelle Hupert, as well as two pivotal Michele Haneke and Martin Scorsese classics, inspired him to come up with the ethos of Swarm, “We just thought it’d be fun to make a post-truth Piano Teacher mixed with The King of Comedy.”
Nabers mentioned how they wanted to create a compelling antihero story akin to Mad Men’s Don Draper and The Sopranos’ Tony Soprano “through the lens of a Black, modern-day woman.” The tortured antihero, often a Caucasian male, dominated the TV scape during the golden age of television.
Atlanta was known for its surrealist elements that give the show a distinctive and unpredictable feel. The show often dipped into magical realism, which only added a layer of absurdity to the characters and situations they found themselves in. The surrealism in Atlanta provided a fresh perspective on life in the city (and sometimes outside of it as we see most prominently in the fourth season), bringing humor and an alternate reality to the gritty and often serious themes explored in the show. It will be interesting to see how Glover and Nabers bring over those elements to Swarm and present a unique and captivating viewing experience. It will be like capturing lightning in a bottle twice. But if there is anyone who can do it, then it is Glover with his consistent track record over the years.
As per Vanity Fair’s Yohana Desta, Swarm “features intimidatingly long takes, and, like Atlanta, has a number of narratively risky moments.”
Swarm: The Cast & Crew
Dominique Fishback (who recently earned a BAFTA nomination for her supporting role in Judas and the Black Messiah) was originally approached for the character of the more agreeable Marissa, Dre’s sister. But she convinced the Swarm creators and landed the lead role instead (she is also credited as a producer on the show). This seems to have paid off because Nabers revealed that Fishback received a standing ovation for three minutes after the final shot of the pilot episode concluded, “I’ve been doing TV for a long time and I’ve never seen that. That was the moment that Donald and I looked at each other and we were like, ‘All right—we got something right.’”
Swarm also stars Chloe Bailey (Grown-ish) as Dre’s sister Marissa and Damson Idris (Snowfall) as Dre’s boyfriend. Macaulay and Kieran Culkin’s brother Rory Culkin (Under the Banner of Heaven) is also slated to appear on the show along with Leon (Cool Runnings), and Nirine S Brown (Ruthless), among others.
Donald Glover’s brother Stephen, who has also worked on Atlanta and Guava Island, is serving as an executive producer for Swarm along with Glover, Janine Nabers, Ibra Ake, Fam Udeorji, Steven Prinz, and Michael Schaefer. Michael Uzowuru will provide the series music, Drew Daniels is overseeing the series cinematography, and Sharidan Sotelo is the series editor.
Barack Obama’s eldest daughter, Malia Obama is one of the writers on the series. Donald Glover directed the first episode. But it is yet to be seen if frequent collaborator Hiro Murai (who directed the seminal This Is America music video, Guava Island, and several Atlanta episodes) comes on board for Swarm. He is likely to be busy with his upcoming projects. Murai has directed four Barry episodes so far and served as the executive producer for the critically acclaimed Hulu series The Bear.
Release Date
The Prime Video production is all set to debut at the next installment of the South by Southwest Film Fest to be held in March 2023 before coming to the OTT platform. Perhaps we can get ready for the captivating ride through the surreal world of Swarm by doing another rewatch of Atlanta.