The Mandalorian & Grogu

[School of Movies 2026]

The first Star Wars movie released in cinemas after seven long years since The Rise of Skywalker. It's a crowd-pleaser, a simple, space western from the director of Cowboys & Aliens, Zathura and Iron Man 1 & 2.

And not a lot of people showed up for it, which feels like a damn shame, since just the experience of being sat there with the Ludwig Göransson score blasting through a sound system that costs a hundred times what most of us have in our living room was quite extraordinary.

There's also something to be said for the miraculous creations we get to see blown up to proportions suited to IMAX, from the gestalt entity of Mando himself, to the pugilist son of Jabba the Hutt, and most especially the special little green gremlin who we get to spend some unexpectedly intense close time with. This film has been easy to dismiss, but there's more to it than the homogenisation of Disney Plus affords us.

This week's After School Club: Happy Birthday to Me (1981)

Next Week: Masters of the Universe (2026)