A review-bombing campaign against The Acolyte, the latest Star Wars Disney+ TV show, has accidentally hit a 2008 movie and a fan-film. The Star Wars fandom has always had a reputation for being divisive, and the review-bombing campaign against The Acolyte has reinforced that impression. Scores of viewers are campaigning against The Acolyte, complaining against its “woke” agenda, and targeting showrunner Leslye Headland and some of the stars.

In a hilarious twist, it seems some of these review-bombers are accidentally criticizing the wrong thing. Jayson Koos was the first to spot that a 2022 fan film called The Acolyte recently received a number of one-star reviews that look rather suspicious.

Cinelinx’s Jordan Maison added to this, discovering that a 2008 movie called Acolytes is also getting caught up in the review-bombing.

This is certainly an amusing twist, supporting the argument that The Acolyte‘s low audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic isn’t really representative at all.

Why Is The Acolyte Being Review-Bombed?

The Acolyte is Lucasfilm’s first attempt to take Star Wars beyond the Skywalker saga era, which means it’s particularly important in testing the long-term future of the entire franchise. Some parts of the fandom are currently focused on their dislike of Disney’s tenure; they don’t really want this iteration of Star Wars to flourish, and are thus doing their best to damage it. Like every Star Wars backlash, at heart there’s a battle of ownership going on – does Star Wars “belong” to this portion of the fanbase or not?

Making matters even more explosive, The Acolyte has been caught up in the culture wars. An old clip from Star Wars Celebration 2023 was used to argue showrunner Leslye Headland was approaching the show with a social justice agenda; this was even shared by Elon Musk, who mocked it with a meme based on a South Park episode criticizing Lucasfilm. Right-wing accounts on social media seem particularly devoted to attacking The Acolyte.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, this backlash is generating a lot of heat but not much light. Legitimate criticisms and analysis are being drowned out, with viewers forced to take positions where they either defend The Acolyte or attack it relentlessly. It’s another unhealthy twist in the story of the Star Wars fandom, and the ridiculous nature of this debate is perfectly illustrated by the fact the wrong movie and a fan film have been caught up in it.

Source: Jayson Koos, Jordan Maison