The Acolyte review: A whodunnit, Star Wars style

Even in a galaxy far, far away, they’re a sucker for a good murder mystery. The Acolyte styles Star Wars in the crime drama mold, but there’s a few bumps along the way.

In recent years, the Star Wars timeline has been characterized by its TV shows, which have expectedly divided fan opinion. The Acolyte is set to be no exception, deviating from the franchise norm in more ways than one. Following a format that would more likely be seen in Murder, She Wrote or Columbo — just with more lightsabers — the show also boasts a diverse cast of brand-new characters and a unique combat technique termed “Force-fu.”

There’s no easy way to say it, but it’s going to be a departure for hardened Star Wars fans. If you think of the main nuts and bolts of the franchise as a well-oiled Broadway production that’s been on stage for decades, The Acolyte is its experimental little sister, tinkering with wild ideas in a fringe theater house you’ve never heard of. This isn’t to say it’s a change for the worse — far from it — so going with the flow will have a huge payoff.

Our new Star Wars characters have a huge mystery to solve, but The Acolyte’s downfall can often be its own intricate worldbuilding. Meandering across planets you’ve seen before to introduce a fresh and maverick tale, showrunner Leslye Headland is taking her well-earned time to get to the point, meaning different storylines can lag behind. However, the overall vision is more than worth sticking with, and you’ll be entranced before you know it.

A crime drama you’ve never seen before

In 132 BBY — making The Acolyte the earliest live-action project in the timeline — a group of Jedi Masters is being killed one by one, with Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) left to get to the bottom of things. The trail leads back to Mae (Amandla Stenberg) who appears to be acting alone, but her past and present reveal a mystery that is bigger than anybody anticipated.

Where the show undoubtedly shines is its accessibility, proving that even the most complex of lore can have an entry point that makes sense to a wider audience. Thanks to The Acolyte’s shift into a structure we all know and love (a murder mystery), there’s still something easily identifiable if all the Star Wars-isms should be stripped away. It’s a stark lesson to other mammoth franchises on film and TV and makes Star Wars all the richer for its existence.

With such a comprehensive story comes an enjoyable watch. Days after an episode’s release, fans will likely still be mulling over the finer details, piecing together clues as if they were Sherlock Holmes. While The Acolyte makes sense, it’s still a challenging watch, taking unexpected and daring directions in its storytelling. As we’d expect, the cinematography does Star Wars justice, delivering the level of detail we’ve become accustomed to since 1977.

Cast performances are an equally strong element of The Acolyte, with it being clear each newbie is thrilled to be wielding their very own lightsaber. Nowhere is this more apparent than with Lee Jung-jae, whose emotional script makes it unbelievable that he learned English specifically for the role. Amandla Stenberg deftly toes the line between good and evil, while Jodie Turner-Smith’s Mother Anseiya is the fleshed-out key to the show’s own lore.

Some episodes are clearly stronger than others

Of course, there were bound to be a few bumps in the road with The Acolyte given that Star Wars is a rarely perfect franchise. While it’s always a good thing to have peaks and pits in a series, the show often takes this too far, meaning some episodes are weaker than others. The series is a slow burner, meaning fans will need to stay put through conscious world-building to get to the good stuff.

With The Acolyte divided into eight parts, some episodes tread water. Scenes that could (and possibly should) be wrapped up in minutes extend over entire episodes, not holding the dramatic tension that is needed for a galaxy-wide search for the unknown. If a story is formatted like a crime drama, it needs to be succinct and consistently up the stakes, something that the series doesn’t always remember to do.

While Episode 4 takes flack for aimless wandering about, Episode 3 is one of the strongest Star Wars installments to date. Without delving into spoiler territory, The Acolyte ties up loose ends exactly when it needs to, introducing a new way of life that completely changes perceptions of those we already know. It’s a smart move to load so much clarification so early on in the series, and the constant back-and-forth in the Jedi Order means fans never really know who is good and who is evil.

The Acolyte review score: 4/5

Showrunner Leslye Headland said she wanted The Acolyte to be a version of Star Wars we’ve never seen before, and she’s successfully achieved that. With a committed cast and a dynamic central storyline, a franchise that has recently struggled to hold fan attention is back with a bang, challenging everyone to approach it with fresh eyes.

The gambles and pacing don’t always work, but The Acolyte gives us a reason to fall in love with Star Wars all over again, and it’s incredibly exciting stuff (yes, Force-fu is exactly as thrilling as you’d expect).

Continue to jump into hyperspace with everything we know about the Andor Season 2 release date and Tales of the Jedi Season 2. You can also read our Star Wars The Acolyte explained guide for more specific details.

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