The Acolyte Review: The Force Is Strong With This Series

"Star Wars" fans love to talk about feel. "It feels like 'Star Wars'" is a thing you hear a lot, even if no one can really figure out what exactly that means. Lately, though, it often seems that too much of the sprawling, ever-expanding megafranchise that is "Star Wars" is focused a little too much on feeling and not enough on storytelling. Shows, books, video games, and more become echo chambers, bouncing the same ideas and characters and Easter eggs off each other infinitely until even die-hard fans who love the self-referential can get a little frustrated.

It's refreshing, then, when a story that promises something new actually delivers on that promise within the wider realm of a galaxy far, far away. We got that with Tony Gilroy's spectacular "Andor," and now we get it again with "The Acolyte," a supernatural space mystery from Leslye Headland ("Russian Doll") that combines shades of The Force we've never seen with gripping characters, great fight scenes, and an ever-deepening web of secrets in a time long before George Lucas' "Skywalker Saga" began. Whether the solution to this mystery proves as satisfying as its setup remains to be seen, but if the four episodes provided to press ahead of the show's premiere are any indication, "The Acolyte" is primed to stand as the next great "Star Wars" story. And yes, it feels like "Star Wars."

Set a full century before the events of the original trilogy, near the tail end of a time Lucasfilm has dubbed The High Republic, "The Acolyte" shows us a "Star Wars" in the days when Jedi were common, the Republic was stable, and even the Sith were all but a myth. Jedi Knights are established, respected peacekeepers around the galaxy, but there are some who don't like their particular brand of justice — and one of them has just murdered a Jedi.

Naturally, this sends the Jedi Temple into action mode, particularly when the wise Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) learns that the murderer might be his old apprentice, Osha (Amandla Stenberg), who left the Jedi Order years earlier and now works as a starship mechanic. Sol, feeling a particular connection to Osha that's rooted in their shared tragic past, begs to be the one to bring his old padawan in, and sets out to investigate what's behind the murder, and an apparent conspiracy to kill even more Jedi. What starts as a tragic confrontation between student and teacher soon spirals into something much more complicated, as it becomes clear that Osha's role in this saga might not be what it seems.

There are more details about the story out there, and you can find them if you wish, but that seems like a fitting place to leave the plot, because much of the joy of "The Acolyte" really is in watching as Leslye Headland and her team of writers slowly unspool what's really going on here. The mystery elements of the show are not just satisfying, but constantly shifting, offering a new layer with each subsequent episode that informs what comes next, like a deadly flower opening petal by petal. It's a marvelous thing to behold, particularly when you consider that other, similar mysteries might have waited a whole season to reveal what "The Acolyte" tells us by the end of its first episode. That sense of marvel, anchored in the kind of story Headland wants to tell, continues through every other aspect of the production.

The High Republic has been explored in other avenues of "Star Wars" storytelling, but this is the first time we're getting this era, or indeed any era prior to the prequels, in live-action — and Leslye Headland makes the most of it. It all looks and feels reliably like "Star Wars," of course, from the starships to the lightsabers to the copious amount of Jedi robes heaped into frame, and longtime fans will have fun with the various alien species roaming the halls of the Jedi Temple or the decks of a Trade Federation ship. That sense of recognizability only goes so far, though, as it's clear right away that Headland is well aware she doesn't need to remind us why we love "Star Wars." She needs to take that love and channel it into something new, and that's something "The Acolyte" does reliably.

The premise — an element of the Dark Side rises at a time when Light rules — is a skillfully inverted take on the original trilogy and a carefully placed echo of the prequels, set in a time when the Jedi are even more secure, even more sure of their place as the galaxy's resident arbiters of Right. Still, the inevitable cracks start to show, and as the mystery progresses with thrilling speed, "The Acolyte" is also careful to show us a version of the Jedi Order we've never seen before; one that's holding power, yes, but also one that's well aware of certain vulnerabilities and bureaucratic hang-ups that could doom them. There's a maturity to the way they move about the galaxy that's absent even from the prequels. Then there are the action scenes, which pulse with energy and inventiveness. If the original "Star Wars" trilogy was inspired by samurai cinema, then this is "Star Wars" by way of Korean revenge films and Hong Kong spectacle.

But the real core of the narrative is, of course, what happens between Osha and Sol, and the dark conspiracy into which they're both thrust. It's here that Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae deliver two dynamic, soulful performances that etch "The Acolyte" and themes in deeper. Like so many Jedi stories, this is a story about Light and Dark, but also about attachment and detachment, the danger of emotions, and why emotions are so often still worth it. The show's two stars have to play both sides of that coin, sometimes in the space of the same scene, sometimes trading places along the way, and they make this show one to remember.

"The Acolyte" is a thrilling new addition to "Star Wars," a series that reliably looks and acts the part while also genuinely attempting to explore new corners of this galaxy. It's a must-see for any "Star Wars" fan, of course, but it'll also make for great thriller viewing even if you barely know what "Star Wars" is.

"The Acolyte" premieres on Disney+ on June 4.