Structurally, “The Acolyte” is a homicide thriller: Somebody is assassinating Jedi masters.
That ought to not, in fact, be occurring. Nobody ought to be ready to finest a Jedi, significantly one as expert because the murderer’s first sufferer (who will stay anonymous right here to reduce spoilers). Furthermore, as a result of the sequence is ready throughout the period of the Excessive Republic, a Golden Age earlier than the autumn of the Jedi throughout which they defend the democratic union generally known as the Galactic Republic, the assassinations may undercut the general public’s religion in that safety. Some higher-up masters together with Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) due to this fact regard the existence of this “unauthorized Drive person” as greater than embarrassing; it’s probably ruinous that somebody reached that degree of proficiency with out the Order’s information. The Jedi accordingly interact in what quantities to a coverup whereas looking the murderer and making an attempt to find out who skilled her.
That’s the political backdrop, and it’s peppered with hints that the Jedi could have strayed from a few of their core tenets. As one character from a neighborhood the Jedi descended upon like colonizers put it: “This isn’t about good or unhealthy. That is about energy, and who’s allowed to make use of it.”
However based mostly on the 4 episodes critics obtained, “The Acolyte” is much less interested by darkish systemic critiques (your “Rogue One,” your “Andor”) than in the kind of Jungian battle of the soul I affiliate extra with the unique trilogy. Although it’s a bit troublesome to pronounce on the story, tensions are rising between company and destiny, vocation and household, instructor and pupil, love and hate.
The present’s reluctant protagonist is Osha (Amandla Stenberg), the daughter of coven leaders Mom Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Mom Koril (Margarita Levieva). As a former witch-in-training and former Jedi-in-training who by no means accomplished both “diploma,” so to talk, Osha appears like an old-school Star Wars hero. Her religion in no matter Messianic potential she as soon as had has dwindled; when the present begins, she’s humbled however comparatively comfortable, having stop Drive faculty and realized a commerce (she’s a mechanic). As a result of the Jedi murderer matches her description precisely, Osha is swiftly arrested by and reunited with a few of her former Jedi crew, together with her someday grasp Sol (Lee Jung-jae of “Squid Recreation”), his present Padawan Jecki (Dafne Eager) and Osha’s former peer and Jedi classmate Yord (Charlie Barnett).
Stenberg works laborious to render Osha bodily and temperamentally distinct from the expert murderer she resembles (whom Stenberg additionally performs). Whereas the latter is direct and confrontational, Osha begins off clumsy, well-meaning and semi-competent. Lee Jung-jae, who doubles because the present’s lead sleuth, excels as Osha’s ex-mentor, even when the fascinating however complicated dynamic between the hangdog grasp and his avoidant pupil will get much less display screen time than one may want (up to now, anyway). Manny Jacinto amuses as a slimy dealer and Carrie-Anne Moss electrifies as Indara.
“The Acolyte” is lots of enjoyable to look at. The present refreshes the franchise by remixing a number of the movie’s stronger archetypes (and familial dynamics) whereas remaining accessible to neophytes. The manufacturing values have been rightly praised, and followers of Ewok hygge will discover the present’s aesthetics gratifyingly earthy and anti-minimalist (no sterile hallways right here, or orderly geometric shows that includes lethal equipment). The motion sequences are awfully compelling even for Philistines like myself, who are likely to endure choreographed on-screen fights greater than they get pleasure from them.
The present’s pacing is shockingly brisk, not less than at first. A confrontation many a sequence would have reserved for the finale occurs within the second episode. By the fourth episode, nevertheless, that momentum has gone slack, principally from a doomed effort to protect some genre-mandated suspense. I gained’t go into particulars for worry of spoiling, however at its core, “The Acolyte” is a really explicit form of homicide thriller: It’s not a whodunnit. Neither is it “howcatchem” within the fashion of “Columbo,” the place the viewer sees the homicide and watches the detective arrive on the conclusion. It’s extra of a whydunnit. That’s not at all times a thriller’s most fascinating query and the present’s unwillingness to reply it, 4 episodes in, retains the story’s extra fascinating themes from coming clearly into view. As an example: This can be a world filled with academics and college students (because the title suggests), however these hoping to see these numerous Drive “faculties” in motion, or the conflicts their completely different mentorship types generate, are more likely to be disenchanted. As an allegory for historic trauma (and imperialism), it appears more likely to fall brief.
Some flaws are minor: The flashbacks are weak and the dialogue is steadily tacky or artlessly direct, however that each one feels true to the franchise, which has by no means been significantly delicate. Others may matter barely extra, relying on the place the sequence finally ends up. “The Acolyte” is clearly invested in complicating the Jedi mythos and injecting a bit relativism into an ethical system that orbits binaries similar to Gentle and Darkish sides. However the mechanics are clunky. Osha, as an illustration, ostensibly gave up on changing into a Jedi as a result of her grief over shedding her household in a hearth prevented her from releasing her attachments and committing to her coaching. This provocative and wildly fascinating thought — that the Jedi, at this level in historical past, see trauma as disqualifying as a result of it makes you unfit to wield the Drive (which suggests they recruit trainees solely from the comparatively secure and privileged) — is endorsed by not less than one Jedi grasp, Indara. Sadly, it seems to be refuted by one other, “We’re not outlined by what we lose. We’re outlined by what we survive,” Sol’s Padawan Jecki says. There may be not, not less than within the episodes I’ve seen, any acknowledgment of the contradiction.
All that will come. Within the meantime, “The Acolyte” delivers loads of grim enjoyable — and a few witches, and multiple pleasant, totally soapy trope, having carved out an area and time the place a homicide thriller can movingly riff on some traditional Star Wars hero’s quest silliness.
Star Wars: The Acolyte (eight episodes) premieres June 4 with two episodes on Disney Plus. Subsequent episodes will air weekly.
