The Acolyte

^{Review by AJ}

Set a hundred years before the events of the main Star Wars saga, this Disney Plus spinoff series aims to expand the galaxy far far away beyond the Skywalkers spectrum. Spearheaded by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who wrote the entire series and directed the first three episodes, The Acolyte takes fans to a world never seen before in live-action Star Wars: the High Republic, a peaceful golden era of the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order at the height of their powers.  

All this time, we’ve only ever seen the Jedi Order being extinct (the original trilogy), in peril (the prequel), or completely useless (the sequel), so it’s nice to see what it’s like to see them in all their glory, the way every Star Wars fans grew up fantasizing. Combining pulpy mystery, enigmatic villains, and some twists to well-established lore, The Acolyte’s got a lot going on, which they wield to some mixed results. 

The story begins with a murder mystery rocking the Jedi Order. A young assassin (Amandla Stenberg) has been murdering Jedi masters around the galaxy. She is a familiar face to the Jedi Order: Osha, a former Padawan who left the Jedi Academy several years prior. Osha’s former Master Sol (Lee Jung Jae) is tasked to investigate the matter with the help of Jedi Knight Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) and his current Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen). 

Once they get a hold of her, Osha, who’s been working as a meknek (mechanic) at a remote starship after giving up Jedi training, denies all the accusations, which Sol believes. She starts having visions of her twin sister Mae (also played by Stenberg), whom she thought was killed during the fire that wrecked their family home. Is Mae really dead? What motivates the serial killings of the Jedi? 

With a strong central performance by Stenberg, the show sets the stage for another compelling coming-of-age journey set in the world of lightsabres and the Force. Star Wars has always revolved around the idea of Light and Dark. It's never just about what’s good and evil, but the nuances in between, which can quickly lead to dangerous extremism when suppressed or misused. Representing this dichotomy, Osha undergoes inner turmoil between Light and Dark within herself. Unable to find the answer with the famously rigid Jedi philosophy, she goes into an unconventional path full of danger, but maybe also revelation. It’s the kind of character arcs that past Star Wars protagonists – Luke, Anakin, and Rey – all went through, albeit in different variations. 

Too bad, the show often gets bogged down with its ineffective storytelling. It starts with the durations, ranging from 30-40ish minutes, which feels too diminishingly short for the ambition of the story. As a result, some situations get resolved in a hurry or with less details than needed to build proper emotional investment. This has been the problem with many Disney Plus series, not just this one. Make no mistakes, some shows can work with that time frame, just not an 8-episode series such as this. The series appears to have lofty ideas that are darker than the movies were ever willing to go, but it never fulfils that potential because of the rushed and clinical writing. If there is a salvaging point here, it’s the creation of Manny Jacinto’s character, someone whom the internet is already going crazy over for reasons too spoilery to reveal. He is an example of taking an old formula and spin it in an interesting way, which gradually becomes the main reason to continue watching.

The Acolyte feels like something new that also feels really familiar, in good and bad ways. The character dynamics are intriguing enough to sustain through the bad stuff, but it seems this Star Wars instalment needs more Force to truly take flight.