Michelle De Swarte
- Actor, stand-up comedian and writer
Press clippings Page 2
Guest revealed for next Live At The Apollo series
The guests have been revealed for the new series of Live At The Apollo.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 28th September 2022The Baby review
Gory horror-comedy that takes the pressure of motherhood to the extreme.
Leila Latif, British Film Institute, 12th July 2022I loved the sound of Sky Atlantic's eight-part horror-comedy The Baby: an "evil baby" causing mayhem - count me in. Created by Lucy Gaymer and Siân Robins-Grace, The Baby even nicks The Omen's red-horror title graphics, which shows it has a sense of humour about itself.
The start of the opening double episode (all are available to stream) doesn't disappoint: a runaway woman backs over a cliff, followed by a crawling baby. The latter falls into the arms of late-thirtysomething Natasha (Michelle de Swarte), who is so anti-baby she bluntly suggests to a pregnant friend that it isn't too late for a termination. It becomes clear that the baby is both killer and parasite. A mysterious older woman (Amira Ghazalla) tells Natasha he must die.
In this way, the baby serves as a hormonal Damien-proxy, a transgressive riposte to idealised parenthood. A complex subtext weaves throughout: the monstering of "unnatural" non-maternal women; the chaos of parenthood; postnatal depression and beyond. Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) appears in one episode in a thrillingly baroque backstory. When people treat the baby as Natasha's child, you wonder: is she in the grip of postpartum psychosis?
Frustratingly, too large a section gets bogged down by an overworked, dull storyline about Natasha's estranged mother (Sinéad Cusack) and a hippy commune. The Baby works best as a waspish parable about unnatural motherhood. De Swarte is great: uncouth, acerbic, conversing with the tot inappropriately: "Are you fucking with me?" Saltier dialogue ("Home time, you little cunt") and a plot to stab the baby may go too far for some, but it's also where the comedy feels blackest and boldest.
Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 10th July 2022The Baby review
A killer baby falling from the sky... that doesn't happen every day!
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 8th July 2022The Baby review
In this dark comedy, motherhood is a true horror show.
Rachael Sigee, i Newspaper, 7th July 2022The Baby review
A hugely enjoyable horror-comedy series that has so much to say it deserves your attention.
Josh Stephenson, Metro, 7th July 2022The Baby review
Horror-comedy fails to raise laughs or goosebumps.
Dan Einav, The Financial Times, 7th July 2022The Baby review
This suspenseful, comic series about a possessed baby that literally falls into a single woman's life has an eerily dystopian feel - especially in light of the US clampdown on abortion rights.
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian, 7th July 2022The Baby review
Sky Atlantic's new comedy-horror starts off as a smart take on the trials of motherhood but soon descends into clichéd farce.
Anita Singh, The Telegraph, 7th July 2022The Baby's Michelle de Swarte interview
"I'm proud I'm part of something so deliciously female."
Sam Moore, Radio Times, 6th July 2022