Just Phillipot’s 2020 French fantasy film The Swarm (La Nuée) has taken Netflix subscribers by storm given how terrifying and creepy it is and has already earned the sixth spot at the daily ‘Top 10’ films chart in the United States. This eco-horror drama is unsettling and based on insects, making viewers terribly uncomfortable.
Based on Jerome Genevray’s screenplay, the film is set in rural France, where a woman struggles desperately to provide for her family after her husband’s death. She harvests locusts to make money, but somehow the process of production is not profitable enough for her.
Soon, she stumbles upon the fact that locusts thrive on human blood and starts providing them with exactly that, from animals as well as her own body.
Starring Suliane Brahim, Marie Narbonne, Spfian Khammesas and more, the film touches on heavyweight themes, including desperation, financial burden and obsession.
Provocative and spine-chilling, The Swarm is also a brilliant social commentary on the effects of poverty and deprivation on the human mind that births various nasty routes of escape.
This slow-burn ecological horror film has left viewers scarred and shuddering in fear. On Twitter, some of the responses state how the film left them “traumatised”, while some showered the film with genuine praise for managing to drive in the fear and despair with effortless ease.
Watch the trailer for the film and take a look at some of the noteworthy responses below:
