Directors: Hanelle M. Culpepper, Alex Garcia Lopez, Leslye Headland, Kogonada
Writers: Leslye Headland, Jasmyne Flournoy, Jason Micallef, Kor Adana, Charmaine DeGrate, Jocelyn Bioh, Claire Kiechel, Jen Richards, Eileen Shim, Cameron Squires
Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Rebecca Henderson, Manny Jacinto
Episodes: 8
Available on: Disney+ Hotstar
When I reviewed Obi Wan Kenobi, I was rather vocal about how the Star Wars franchise needs to move forward, not backwards, to be relevant. The Acolyte, set 100 years before the Star Wars timeline we recognise, doubles down on going back and becoming a humbling existential reminder that perhaps my opinion isn’t worth a single galactic credit.
The first two episodes of The Acolyte hit Disney+ Hotstar this week (the platform shared four episodes with reviewers) and the show kicks off with an energetic Jedi martial arts sequence with Carrie Ann Moss’s jedi master Indara delivering action choreography that seems to have been inspired by the question, “What if Trinity moved like Neo in The Matrix?” It is an exciting sequence and tonally very different from what we usually see in the franchise. It is one of the few Jedi sequences, which doesn’t involve extended lightsaber use. Why am I giving the opening sequence such a wide berth in the review? Because having seen the first four episodes, the rest of The Acolyte is Tauntaun poop.
