The German writer Frank SCHÄTZING is a gifted drummer in his own right. His statements in an interview with the German weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT on February 16, 2023 ("Es pilchert mehr, als es schwärmt / There is more pilchering than there is raving.") have what it takes to become winged words.
I read his bestselling novel DER SCHWARM / THE SWARM at the beginning of 2005 (shortly after the tsunami disaster at Christmas 2004) and found it incredibly exciting. But even then there were simply too many characters and too many changes of location. That fit the global theme of the thriller quite well, but it did make me a bit skeptical about making it into a film. Hollywood and Uma THURMAN didn't bite permanently either. In this respect, it's fitting to make a series out of this material, even if the young man from Cologne was aiming for higher things. But a budget of 40 million euros is no small feat! How did she become like this after watching all the episodes?
Of course, the tricks can be improved, the excessive staff is slow to get going, and with the many changes of location you have to be on your toes as a spectator. But the apocalyptic events are becoming more and more exciting, and due to the high density of deaths, the main protagonists are slowly emerging.
I really liked it, so I give it a rating of 7.0. Wait and see if there will be another season! As an apocalypse thriller, THE SWARM is definitely incredibly good. FASSBINDER star Barbara SUKOWA (Silver Palm 1986 for ROSA LUXEMBURG) impresses as the prickly Kiel sprat (great drone shots of the Baltic Sea metropolis, by the way). And EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Leonie BENESCH (she was nominated for DAS LEHREZIMMER / THE TEACHER'S LOUNGE in 2023) and her Scottish fisherman (Jack GREENLEES) cut a fine figure in every situation!
I read his bestselling novel DER SCHWARM / THE SWARM at the beginning of 2005 (shortly after the tsunami disaster at Christmas 2004) and found it incredibly exciting. But even then there were simply too many characters and too many changes of location. That fit the global theme of the thriller quite well, but it did make me a bit skeptical about making it into a film. Hollywood and Uma THURMAN didn't bite permanently either. In this respect, it's fitting to make a series out of this material, even if the young man from Cologne was aiming for higher things. But a budget of 40 million euros is no small feat! How did she become like this after watching all the episodes?
Of course, the tricks can be improved, the excessive staff is slow to get going, and with the many changes of location you have to be on your toes as a spectator. But the apocalyptic events are becoming more and more exciting, and due to the high density of deaths, the main protagonists are slowly emerging.
I really liked it, so I give it a rating of 7.0. Wait and see if there will be another season! As an apocalypse thriller, THE SWARM is definitely incredibly good. FASSBINDER star Barbara SUKOWA (Silver Palm 1986 for ROSA LUXEMBURG) impresses as the prickly Kiel sprat (great drone shots of the Baltic Sea metropolis, by the way). And EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Leonie BENESCH (she was nominated for DAS LEHREZIMMER / THE TEACHER'S LOUNGE in 2023) and her Scottish fisherman (Jack GREENLEES) cut a fine figure in every situation!