strawberry?

Rory Culkin’s unexpected full-frontal scene in ‘Swarm’ is causing quite a few jump-scares

By · 11 comments · Updated on January 26, 2024
A shirtless and muscled Rory Culkin stands in the middle of a grey kitchen
Image Credits: ‘Swarm,’ Amazon Prime Video

Last week, Amazon Prime Video dropped a new thriller series called Swarm that sure has the internet hive mind talking.

From short short aficionado Donald Glover and Atlanta writer Janine Nabers, Swarm is the story of Dre (the incredible Domininque Fishback), a young woman who obsessively idolizes a pop star named Ni’Jah—a fandom so intense that consumes her life, taking her to some dark, horrifying places.

The fact that Ni’Jah’s fan base is known as “The Swarm” should be your first tip off that the series is not really hiding its inspirations: Beyonce and her devoted Bey Hive, but also the broader notion of modern stan culture and the often chilling behavior it can encourage in otherwise normal people.

Suffice it to say, Swarm has garnered a lot of attention online, with folks binging its addictive seven-episode season and registering their shock at each new twist and turn of the narrative.

But one of the series’ earliest gasp-inducing moments isn’t so much a twist as it is…. a curve, shall we say.

After Ni’Jah drops a fire new visual album about her cheating man (sound familiar?), Dre feels empowered and hits the clubs. There she meets a young man, and the two begin to dance.

With his long hair, striking eyes, and sharp bone structure, Rory Culkin—brother to Macauly, known for films like Scream 4 and Signs—is immediately clock-able in the role. But, given his penchant for characters that are either nerdy or scary (or both—hello Scream 4), what happens next is pretty shocking.

Related:

5 more shows to stream that feature full-frontal male nudity

Because you just can’t have enough.

We smash-cut from the club to the cold light of the next morning as Dre wakes up in a strange bed. She sees Rory’s unnamed hookup across the room, completely naked (and looking quite buff, we might add). He asks how she slept, and the bounds across the room with a bowl of strawberries in hand, offering her one.

It’s then that we make a quick jump to Dre’s line of site, and—surprise!—through the glass bowl, we see Rory’s flaccid penis smashed up against the other side of it. Talk about a bowl-full!

A diptych of Rory Culkin, shirtless, and Domninique Fishback, looking confused, in 'Swarm'
Rory Culkin (left), Dominique Fishback (right) | Image Credits: ‘Swarm,’ Amazon Prime Video

And, really, that’s all there is to it, merely meant to underline how awkward the morning-after situation is for Dre. In an interview with Insider, co-creator Nabors reveals this was pulled from a real story Glover had shared with her:

“Donald told this very funny story about a girl who he really liked, and how after they hooked, he was standing there with a bowl of cherries, just being like, ‘Hey,'” Nabors shared. “She was like, so not into it, because it’s so weird to hook up with a guy that you barely know and then wake up with him holding a bowl of cherries.” 

“I was like, ‘I’m stealing that,'” she recalled. “And he was like, ‘All right.’ So I just ran with it.” 

Anyway, the scene was already garnering a lot of buzz before the clip made its way to Twitter, san context, prompting thousands of views to sit up, pay attention, and ask, “Wait, what is this show about?”

Scroll below to read some of of favorite reactions to Culkin’s berries, which run the gamut from excitement to pure terror:

All seven episodes of Swarm are streaming now, exclusive on Amazon Prime Video.

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