Down the mean streets of Melbourne a woman must go, who is herself not mean… well, maybe a little bit. It’s all dirty deals, desperation, and dubious morality in this top notch new Australian crime series.
How to watch Swift Street in Australia
All eight episodes of Swift Street are streaming exclusively on SBS on Demand right now.
Swift Street: Season 1
What is Swift Street about?
When her petty criminal father is told he has 10 days to come up with the $26,000 he owes to a ruthless crime boss, spunky 21-year-old Elsie decides to take things into her own hands, lest dear old dad spend the rest of his days sans kneecaps. Luckily, Elsie is already a seasoned hustler, flogging fake IDs, but the clock is ticking and things are obviously going to get much worse before they get better. What unfolds is a breakneck crime caper set in the less tourist-friendly areas of Melbourne, along with some unconventional familial bonding and reconciliation.
The cast of Swift Street
Tanzyn Crawford, who you may remember from Tiny Beautiful Things and M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant, is Elsie; New Zealand’s greatest actor (and insofar as we can tell, the only Maori ever to play Jesus) Cliff Curtis is her dad, Robert; Eliza Matengu (Predestination, Thor: Love and Thunder) is the terrifying crime kingpin known as “The Mechanic”; Keiynan Lonsdale, who played Wally West, aka Kid Flash, in the TV version of The Flash, is Elsie’s friend Tom, a former boxer turned gang enforcer; and Bolude Watson is Elsie’s estranged mother, Moreblessing.
Swift Street trailer
Why we’re excited about Swift Street
Well, we love an Aussie crime drama on general principles, but the subgenre has been a bit stale for a while now, falling back on outdated ocker stereotypes and what have you. Swift Street, by contrast, is a breath of fresh air—a relentlessly contemporary, breakneck-paced urban thriller that captures modern Australia rather than resorting to cliches.
