Beyoncé fans get their own horror story in the trailer for Donald Glover’s Swarm
In its first trailer, Swarm — the forthcoming Amazon thriller co-created by Atlanta’s Donald Glover – clearly set itself apart as being a story about misanthropic fandom, much like Steven King’s Misery. In a new, longer, and creepier trailer, the show seems to be satirizing a very specific fandom: Beyoncé’s.
Co-created with playwright and Watchmen writer Janine Nabers (who serves as show runner), Swarm is set between 2016-2018 and “follows Dre (Dominique Fishback), an obsessed fan of the world’s biggest pop star who sets off on an unexpected cross-country journey.”
In the new trailer, that big pop star — named Ni’Jah — bears a strong resemblance to Beyoncé, at least in how she’s discussed by her fans. Bee-themed lingo and imagery permeate the trailer, with frightening beehive images and the fandom adopting the name “swarm” clearly riffing on Beyoncé’s fandom, which goes by the Beyhive.
The trailer positions Swarm as a creepy interrogation of how fans routinely express adulation of celebrities on social media — perhaps to the extent of physically acting out the hyperbolic and sometimes violent language fans use to gush about their favorite artists.
Those fans are going to be so chill about this.
Swarm premieres on Prime Video March 17.
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