Swift Street may take its name from an actual street in Preston, Melbourne where creator, co-writer and co-director Tig Terera once lived, but it could just as easily read as a reference to the speed of the show itself. This new SBS crime drama, set on felony-filled streets, moves at a hectic pace just like its characters: they need to move quickly or they’re toast.
Terera fills the series with bad behaviour, bad blood and bad debts, rehashing the old “need to pay back a mobster before they cap your knees” chestnut. But all of it feels rather fresh and spunky, thanks in part to a roaring lead performance from Tanzyn Crawford as Elsie, a tenacious 21-year-old attempting to pay off debts accrued by her nogoodnik father Robert (Cliff Curtis).
