Andor

What’s it about?

One year after the events of season 1, Cassian Andor continues to evolve as a leader whilst pushing his efforts to unite various rebel factions and continuing his daring missions against the Empire.

Andor focuses on the growing rebellion in the Star Wars universe and the danger, people and places that are involved. 

The facts

• Directed by Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz, and Alonso Ruizpalacios
• Starring Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Varada Sethu, Ben Mendelsohn and Forest Whitaker
• English language
• 40 minutes per episode
• Andor is a part of the Star Wars franchise and is the prequel series to the film Rogue One.

Why did it get this rating?

This film was self-rated by Disney+. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Violence

Andor, Season2 becomes significantly more violent as it progresses through the episodes. It includes fantasy style fighting with laser guns and hand to hand combat. Minimal blood is shown, mostly in the form of nose bleeds and on clothing.

Some of the stronger moments of violence include:

• Numerous characters are directly shot and killed, sometimes in shocking ways.
• There is a sequence where protesters are gunned down by soldiers. People are shot, blown up, and killed. A man dies from his wounds in his friend's arms.
• Large bulletproof robots throw innocent civilians against concrete walls at high speeds. They are killed swiftly, and we can sometimes hear slight bone-breaking sounds. These moments are quite shocking.
• Several times throughout the show, a woman has flashbacks to being tortured by a mad scientist. 
• We see a man lying dead, without blood, from a bullethole in his chest. It is heavily implied that he was killed by an ally of his after providing him with top-secret intel.
• A group of prisoners, including a teenage boy, is rounded up and shot in a town square. A young girl watches in horror. It occurs offscreen but is still shocking due to the sounds of crying and gunfire.

Drug use

A woman is shown to have trauma from being tortured, struggling with anxiety and using a depressant drug as a remedy to ease her pain. There is talk that she is reliant on and potentially addicted to it. She is shown lying on the bed woozy and half asleep with the drug next to her, but she turns out fine and stops using it later on.

In one scene, a fanatic leader encourages a younger man to inhale “rhydo” with him, a type of fuel for spaceships that can be harmful to humans. It is implied that he and his allies use it as a drug to get high on. The younger man is shown yelling and huffing as he experiences the drug, before the camera stops and we do not see any after effects.

Sexual violence themes

An imperial Lieutenant becomes touchy and flirtatious with a woman whom he is alone with. She is obviously uncomfortable with his behaviour. He presses her against a wall, grabbing her, but she punches him to defend herself, and they fight and throw each other into walls and glass. 

The woman ends up killing the man by bashing his head in with a hard object, causing a nearby soldier to hear. She tells this soldier “He tried to rape me.”

Suicide themes

A man’s hand is shown holding a knife covered in blood after we hear a slicing sound. It is revealed that he stabbed himself in the chest, supposedly to avoid being captured and tortured.

Helplines:

Some scenes, for example those with sexual violence and self-harm, could be upsetting for some viewers and especially for those who have gone through similar experiences. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters
• Andor review – the best Star Wars show since The Mandalorian
• Andor is a Star Wars show for grown-ups