Like The Acolyte, this is a Star Wars project where I went in curious but neutral, ultimately coming away loving it! It carves out its own niche in the franchise, a family-friendly “Star Wars meets The Goonies” romp. It adds to the larger lore of this universe without being overly dependent on references and cameos, and it just oozes Star Wars from all its pores.
What’s It About?
Nothing exciting ever happens on the idyllic world of At Attin. While other kids are studying for an important assessment, Wim dreams about tales of Jedi. Shrewd, rebellious Fern chafes under her mother’s exacting expectations of her. When Wim and Fern—along with their loyal, thoughtful best friends Neel and KB—discover a decrepit old spaceship buried out in the woods, they accidentally kickstart an adventure none of them could have predicted. Suddenly, they’re far from At Attin, trying to figure out how to get home.
Who’s In It?
All the child actors do a lovely job in their roles—their interactions together are a ton of fun, and they capture the excitement, fear, and wonder of a thrilling space adventure. We have Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Wim, Robert Timothy Smith as Neel, Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Fern, and Kyriana Kratter as KB. On the adult side, Jude Law is just excellent as Jod, a man the kids enlist to help them on the travels. His performance constantly keeps me guessing! We also have Nick Frost tearing it up as SM-33, a salty old seadog of a droid. A fine host of guest stars too: between live appearances and voice-acting roles, we’re treated to the likes of Alfred Molina, Alia Shawkat, Mathieu Kassovitz (Nino from Amélie!!!), Kelly Macdonald, and Stephen Fry!
What Do I Love About It?
· The dynamic between all the kids feels so genuine and lived-in. I like that there’s a mix of relationships—Wim and Neel as best friends, as are Fern and KB, but the girls are a year older than the boys, and the two pairs don’t really know each other. So there’s distrust and squabbling, each established friend pair sometimes bands together against the other, and of course, there’s all four gradually learning to work together and lean on each other.
· It’s just so much fun! Cool new worlds, entertaining oneshot and recurring characters, and pirates! Droid pirates, space shanties, lightsaber-wielding pirates—love it!
· I like that we have a relatively straightforward premise of the kids accidentally setting off a derelict spaceship and then having a series of adventures trying to find their way back home. It reminds me a little of season 1 of The Mandalorian, which also has a relatively loose main throughline that leaves plenty of room for side quests. But within that, we also get an intriguing mystery as the kids come to learn At Attin isn’t what they thought it was. I really enjoy the new hints and further developments that come in that story every episode!
· I’ll get more into spoilery thoughts on this in another post, but Jod is such an interesting character to me. I feel like we haven’t seen many like him in Star Wars, and episode to episode, I consistently couldn’t wait to see what he’d do next and what we’d discover about him. His dynamic with the kids is just so blame watchable!
Warnings
Violence, scary moments for kids, mild sensuality, lots of “don’t try this at home,” and thematic elements.
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