‘The Acolyte’ Review: Leslye Headland Delivers a Solid Star Wars Crime Thriller
Proma Khosla
The best Star Wars projects in recent years are the ones that stray from the original story.
From “Rogue One” to “The Last Jedi” to the animated “Visions” and last year’s “Andor,” the franchise finds its footing by taking risks and focusing on original stories that just happen to be set in a galaxy far, far away. With the middling quality of so many other Star Wars offshoots since Disney+ launched in 2019, Leslye Headland‘s “The Acolyte” finds company, mercifully, in the former category, with an intriguing crime thriller set further back than any other live-action entry.
“The Acolyte” takes place even longer ago in the galaxy’s history, during the High Republic Era that preceded even young Anakin Skywalker in “The Phantom Menace.” It’s a time of peace, as the opening text says (notably, no crawl), but like all peaceful pockets in Star Wars, that gets interrupted. A violent crime catches the attention of the Jedi council, leading Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) to investigate and confront a figure from his past (Amandla Stenberg).
The first two episodes premiered on June 4, but even then Disney is tight-lipped about spoilers. Without getting into plot details, backstory, or the pilot twist, it’s fair to say that “The Acolyte” draws on crime procedural and murder mystery shows, two wildly popular genres that thrive in a world of mystical powers, shrouded history, and strained relationships. Stenberg’s character is connected not only to Sol, but to Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Torbin (Dean Charles Chapman), and Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo). Headland directed the two-episode premiere (now streaming), with 103 and 107 directed by Kogonada, 104 and 105 by Alex Garcia Lopez, and 106 and 108 directed by Hanelle Culpepper.
And here we honor the spoiler embargoes, for withholding their secrets gives us more time to praise Lee for an outstanding performance in his first ever English speaking role. In just a few scenes as Sol he delivers some of the finest acting ever seen in Star Wars, a mesmerizing array of nuanced emotion that still toes the line of Jedi detachment. He pairs skillfully with Moss, with Charlie Barnett, with Dafne Keen and Elizabeth Henderson (who serve as reminders that fantasy hair and makeup don’t have to inhibit performance), Stenberg, and pretty much anyone. The performances overall are more dynamic, the writing more engaging than usual for Disney+, which keeps the series from dragging like its predecessors.
“The Acolyte” seems notably more interested than any live-action Star Wars in interrogating the Jedi Council’s police-state behavior. It was this very function that drove Ahsoka Tano out of the Order, but that’s not the point of “Ahsoka,” and once Grogu abandons his training it no longer matters in “The Mandalorian.” But with the Jedi at large, “The Acolyte” uses our present to add layers to the Star Wars galaxy’s past. There’s less glory and religious subtext to the Jedis’ rigidity and law enforcement, more secular peacekeeping (the title obviously alludes to that subtext, but it’s not from the Jedi side). Despite her reactionary response, Stenberg’s character and compatriots like Qimir (Manny Jacinto) are rightfully dubious of the Order, where power runs ostensibly unchecked in the hands of a group that claims to be nonviolent until they draw deadly weapons.
The four episodes screened for critics flew by and showed promise. The final verdict hinges upon the villain of the series, thus far a faceless figure with an unrecognizable voice whose followers share his disdain for Jedi. Is this a known character, or a new face from the wider universe — perhaps a new invention entirely? The Star Wars shows that fall flat often do so after an eleventh hour connection to the Skywalkers, ironically dooming otherwise interesting stories in an effort to plumb nostalgia. Maybe the Jedi were on to something when they eschewed attachment — without sentimentality for the world that spawned it, “The Acolyte” deserves its own following.
Grade: B
“The Acolyte” is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes weekly.
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