The Swarm, also known as La Nuée, is a French Fantasy film with a touch of drama directed by Just Philipot. Starring Suliane Brahim and Sofian Khammes. The plot is about Virginie, a single mother of two who raised locusts to make a living. Things were tough for their family till they discovered that the locusts multiply rapidly if fed with blood and flesh. Following this discovery unleashes a devastating locust rampage over their family when they started running wild!
Worth Watching or Not?
The film did get nominated for International Critics week at the 2020 Cannes Film festival. As expected, the movie itself gives a whole new meaning to gore and horror. After all, the story itself came out to be decently done, but the thriller elements were well-taken care of. “Combining social drama and horror, “The Swarm” is an excellent first film for Just Phillippot.”- Critics. The movie was well-received by the French community and made people question the dangers of cattle raising in a spine-chilling fashion but not the same for the rest of the world.
The movie worked well, building up suspense, but then nothing happened. The moment of terror never occurred. The remaining plot was then water-thin and centered on half a dozen characters. The two children were unremarkable, a difficult teenager and her young brother. The other characters were shallow to the point of anonymity. Even the mother wasn’t mentally sane and had an obsession with those bugs.
“What Alfred Hitchcock did for birds the French director Just Philippot does for grasshoppers in this extravagantly eerie, rootedly practical horror film.”- New York Movie Review.
Overall the movie did not live up to fans’ expectations, but it is certainly interesting to people who are willing to understand its low budget and keep an open mind towards the movie. Many people found the movie to be boring and monotonous, but some contradicted that as well. The movie did lack a turning point or a breaking point and was pretty much a suspense builder.
The market lacks the amount of horror killer bug movies, and The Swarm is one of the more decent ones; though the audience is small, this would be a paradise for the ideal crowd of killer bug movie lovers. Some found it to be too short, and for others, it felt like forever, but all-in-all, this movie would fall in the category of “fairly decent.”
Sequel or Any Future?
As of now, there haven’t been any plans for a part 2 or sequel or even a remake, but it is speculated that something similar or movie of a similar genre might be recreated in Hollywood with a better budget figure. The Swarm didn’t create a huge fan following, but it certainly grabbed people’s attention through its performance on a tight budget. Furthermore, the director has not shown any interest in pursuing the Swarm franchise either.
So, no new updates on the movie, but it’s surely worth a try if you’re willing to try something new for a change.
