The Swarm Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysOfHorror
content warning: blood, gore, self-harm, animal death
The Hébrard family raise livestock. They have goats and big fields of crops to feed the herds. They also raise locusts. This causes the children to be bullied at school and the mother to struggle to sell the output. Locusts are on the rise as an alternate source of protein, but the family can’t raise enough to sell in the bulk quantities business want. Then the mother discovers blood causes the locusts to thrive in every way imaginable, giving her the chance to turn the business around.
The Swarm is family drama and horror film in one. There’s nothing particularly scary about the film until the mother discovers the effect blood has on the locusts. It’s a strong drama built on a family trying to survive under unideal circumstances. The Hébrards are a single parent household with a lot of debt. The kids are bullied at school for not having a father and for raising locusts. Meanwhile, the people willing to do business are just trying to take advantage of a small farm. The family seems stuck in a downward spiral with no hope of stopping the fall.
This film is an interesting spin on the killer insect subgenre. It’s not uncommon for the impetus of these attacks to be human interference in an animal species, like experiments gone wrong or specimens from one ecosystem following the scientists home. The locusts being livestock is a good shake up of the formula. The creatures cause destruction, but the mother is the one creating the monsters.
Once the mother notices the positive effect of blood, she starts feeding the locusts what they need. She’ll unwrap her bandages and let them burrow into her flesh to get what they want. They, in turn, multiply and grow stronger faster than she ever imagined. She’s literally suffering to save her family and no one seems to appreciate her efforts.
It doesn’t help that the new an improved locusts will eat each other to get the blood they now crave. The choice is find enough blood to keep expanding the operation or start losing out on sales to the livestock itself.
The Swarm features body horror, but it is not a body horror film. The film doesn’t linger on the injuries or the blood, but it does let you know it’s happening. It’s a level of restraint from Just Philippot that stops this from going full New French Extremity in its approach. Not every story can support that level of graphic violence and the drama element of The Swarm is richer for not focusing on the gore.
The Swarm takes an interesting approach to modern horror. There’s a level of obsession as a driving force that is on trend for modern horror. The locusts become a metaphor for family and success, with every small victory won with blood.
The Swarm is streaming on Netflix.
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