Before watching "Swarm," I would have politely suggested that the compulsion to describe anything that doesn't fit neatly into a box as "a provocation" was a cop-out. To be less diplomatic, it's pretentious and a haphazardly applied catch-all popping up more frequently in recent years.
Here's a stack of receipts to prove it. Among the recent examined objects and happenings deemed provocations are Madonna's face, an all-black watch, the concept of "Rethinking Sex," "Drag Race" winner Jinx Monsoon's tour, a Russian jet colliding with a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, and Roxy Music's first album cover.
