Star Wars: Ethos

**Star Wars: Ethos** is a space opera film in the Star Wars franchise.

## Synopsis

Poe Praetorian, undercover guard of an authoritarian planet, is tangled up in an intergalactic expedition for the legendary Goldsaber with well-mannered Sith Theni Itaire while evading an extremist Jedi who wishes to restore the Republic by any means necessary in this chilling interrogation of morality in a galaxy far, far away...

## Characters

* Poe Pratetorian: Poe Pratetorian is an undercover guard who is often at-odds with his chief and the economy-centric governing of his home planet, but continues to serve in order to put an end to what he views as crime and enter sexual relationships with alien species free of judgement. Creator Trigger Happy the Gremlin based Praetorian on himself and his dynamic with Theni Itaire is similar to Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's relationship in *The Batman*. In addition to his attraction to other humanoid species, Praetorian is pansexual, polyamorous, and aromantic, never going beyond a sexual relationship with any of his partners, also converting to veganism through Itaire's influence.
* Theni Itaire: Theni Itaire is a Sith warrior who has trained under the newly-established Galactic Empire but works independently, demonstrating consistent purity in doing her best to spare the lives of those she fights. Despite knowing of the Empire's evil, Itaire continues to side with them and hate the Jedi because of the murder of her unborn daughter during the Clone Wars by the Lightsaber of Pong Krell, only standing against the Emperor after Jedi children are threatened in a massacre at the end of the film. Itaire takes significant inspiration from other characters created by Trigger, namely Venture's Robyn Jacob and Vepturegeng's Chizuru Jackson, with all three of them being vegan and openly lesbian.
* Even Lienn: Even Lienn is a survivor of Order 66 who has formed a militia known as the Jedi Defense Guard to overthrow the Galactic Empire through terrorism and the execution of sympathizers and their children. Lienn wishes to find the Goldsaber and use it to help him overthrow the Empire.
* The Headhunter: The Headhunter is a cocky, disobedient member of the Jedi Defense Guard with atypical moral barriers for her bounty hunter profession, pondering whether she should backstab Even Lienn over his evil.
* AAA-5: AAA-5 is a flamboyant humanoid droid who proves little use to his momentary allies, consistently complaining and embodying toxic effeminate traits.
* Tambo: Tambo is a Toydarian bounty hunter employed by the Jedi Defense Guard, malicious and sadistic with a ceaseless bloodlust in addition his greed, torturing and murdering people for both enjoyment and profit.

## Parents Guide

### Sex & Nudity

* Throughout the film, strip clubs are visited with sight of scantily-clad dancers but no nudity, references to sex and staring at breasts also appear in the dialogue.
* There is an Astromech droid in a strip club's bathroom that sells contraception, Poe reads off an Aurebesh advertisment on it that mentions "ribbed," "nectarine shade," and "glowing" variations, along with graffitti on it that allegedly says "bullocks."

### Violence & Gore

* Even Lienn holds many children hostage, stabbing an alien preteen just out-of-frame and snapping a young human's neck to prove his threat, before invariably killing the others when they try to fight back. Aside from shooting a boy with a blaster and slashing at a girl without visible injuries every execution past this point is offscreen save for a cheated shot of him decapitating the rest of them with their faces just out of frame. A pile of child corpses with burn marks on their clothes is depicted after he kills all of them.
* The film opens up with a massacre at a Sith primary school, a teacher is decapitated by Even Lienn (partly obscured but her head is shown coming off and rolling on the floor) before he slashes at some unarmed students without visible injuries. Horror in the children's eyes is emphasized and there is a shot of child corpses with burns in their robes, along with a scene in an unlit classroom where killing is implied but nothing more than a Lightsaber blade, Blaster bolts, and orange burns are shown. The shooting ends with Even locating a cloning facility under the academy and destroying all of the glass clone tanks with his militia, killing ten thousands babies but anything more than glass and water is obscured by explosions and Lienn's Lightsaber.
* Unusually for the series, brief sight of blood is common, as many of the blasters used cauterize wounds slower, but bloody wounds are only shown in a few scenes.
* Armored soldiers are visibly charred by Force lightning and one character's skin is shown burning from it, bloody wounds opening up and regions blackening.
* Even uses Jedi mind tricks to make Stormtroopers commit suicide many times, they're shown jumping from buildings and into forcefields that slice them to pieces.
* Theni electrocutes Even with Force lightning, cutting off two legs and one arm, leaving him with just one arm left on his body; there is no blood from the dismemberment, just the glowing stumps on his torso from the electrocution. However, the process before this happens is longer and intense, with him getting completely engulfed in electricity and screaming in agony and terror until he is a burned, bloody, charred, and smoky torso that eventually loses his limbs; he uses his sole arm to slowly drag himself back to her, with more views of his charred, bloody, and gory torso, including close-ups of his face in the same condition. Even eventually collapses and writhes about in agony before Poe takes the Goldsaber and decapitates him (barely onscreen) with his head shown prominently without a visible neck wound before it is shoved on a spear.
* Two people are decapitated and bisected, respectively, by falling objects, brief but we see large, dark blood sprays with audio gore.

### Profanity

* There are 11 uses of "shit," 2 uses of "dick," 2 uses of "pussy," 4 uses of "asshole," 10 uses of "bitch" and "son of a bitch," and one cut-off use each of "f\*\*k" and "c\*\*t."

### Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking

* Spice is portrayed as an obvious representation of methamphetamine, being made in labs, sold on the street, and causing debilitating effects to vision when used.
* Death Sticks and hookahs are smoked in the film, cocktails are consumed, and Theni getting drunk on rum and being late for work is essential to the exposition.
* A cocaine equivalent made from leaves is shown in a laboratory and there is a scene where a placebo is sold to a gang and consumed.

### Frightening/Intense Scenes

* Star Wars: Ethos goes the furthest out of any Star Wars film as far as all of the listed categories go, even more violent and intense than Revenge of the Sith and Andor.
* Horror-like scenes involving zombies and giant insects/arachnids are present, with dark lighting, jumpscares, and sustained peril.
* There is a trigger warning before the film relating to the disturbing and upsetting nature of the opening school shooting and a scene involving Even Lienn executing child hostages, both of which more than live up to it.
* Flashing light patterns and shaky camera work in more intense scenes are intentionally composited to avoid triggering photosensitive epilepsy but could make for an uncomfortable viewing experience regardless.

Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of strong violence and intense action throughout, strong disturbing images, sensuality, language, thematic material, and some drug content.

## Screenit Specifics

**OUR WORD TO PARENTS:**
Much has been made of the latest entry of the "Star Wars" series adopting director Brendan Payne's signature excessive violence and dark content; it could easily have been rated R, despite getting the PG-13 rating that has become increasingly customary for the series ever since Revenge of the Sith. Aside from the exposition and climax, the violence isn't much worse than previous entries, meaning there is nonstop sci-fi battles and killing via light sabers, laser blaster rifles, and, for the first time in the series, semi-automatics guns. While the majority of the violence only has brief, small blood effects or unrealistic burn marks, it is stepped up signficantly in intensity. Then there's the murder spree at the start, with countless Sith, albeit young children and mentors defending them, getting killed in cold blood (the younger ones mostly die offscreen with sight of only their corpses) and a latter scene where youths are held for ransom and progressively killed; one by voluntarily jumping from the building. The climax has many bloody kills by a golden Lightsaber and a villain getting severely wounded by Force lightning; the pervasive sight of him as a charred and bloody torso (with just one arm left on it) will probably prove too much for many children and even adults. Thus, the film will probably be too intense for younger and more sensitive viewers (depending on their level of maturity and past exposure to such material), but for those concerned about the R aged crowd, the film isn't any more violent than the "The Matrix" films and isn't anywhere as intense or frightening as the "It" duology. That said, here is our standard content summary
### Blood/Gore (Extreme)

* An animal flatulates in a character's face and he reacts with disgust, before stepping in its feces and shouting "Ew! Icky poo!" and shaking it off.
* After his jetpack is shot, a Mandalorian mercenary flies into a mound of feces with insects surrounding it with an audible splatter before crawling out of it, disgusted.
* An explosion destroys a bathroom during a battle and exposes a Stormtrooper using it who is promptly shot and killed (we see a stream of urine after she dies but no nudity).
* After getting killed in a fight, a bird-like alien audibly soils himself.
* An enemy thug's head lands in a dirty toilet after he is killed (we see brown and rainbow-colored droppings).
* Saliva is spat on a wounded soldier's face and he reacts with disgust before getting executed.
* An Imperial Officer foams at the mouth and vomits onscreen after taking cyanide before dying.

### Disrespectful/Bad Behavior (Extreme)

* Unsurprisingly, the film's villains and the false pretenses they operate under are severely disrespectful and ill-behaved.
* A major theme in the film is hate directed at Droids, aliens, and even misogyny and misandry.
* After rescuing Theni, Poe claims that he'd prefer an "alternate form of payment" and alleges that she's just envious that he "gets it more" when she chastises him for this.
* Poe dismisses his acts of police brutality, including torture, with the allegation that he is "being the hero" and "serving my planet."
* Upon learning that a sex worker isn't enslaved but chose her occupation to evade an abusive ex, Even accuses her of infidelity and kills her.
* Given the choice between saving Theni's life and a ship with 300 refugees and prisoners of war on it, Poe chooses the former's life without hesitation and lets the immigrants die.
* The film's depiction of Jar Jar Binks' species is a jab at his Stepin Fetchit-style portrayal but this is presented in a subtle way and could inadvertently offend some viewers.

### Guns/Weapons (Extreme)

* Machine guns/Sniper rifles/Explosives/Laser guns & other laser-type weapons/Light sabers/Knives/Large space ships/Missiles/Hammers/Wood planks with nails/Flails/Spears/Pipes/Pickaxes/Meat cleavers/Screwdrivers/Ice picks/Poisonous darts: Used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details.
* Blood splatters are visible on weapons as a result of violence, specifically on knives, a hammer, a wrench, a wooden plank with nails on it (that also has meaty intestines), a spear, a pickaxe, shears, a meat cleaver, a screwdriver.

### Imitative Behavior (Extreme)

* Phrases: "What in the name of God?" "Droids are brainless and inferior," "all Sith are bastards," "purge the Sith heathens," "you can't trust whores with credits," "females think as good as they drive," "the women should stay with the children," "all males are parasites," and "no Droids, subhumans, or women allowed."
* Some kids might be inclined to imitate all of the combat and "sword play" that appear in the film.
* Theni wears many outfits that are revealing, including a fishnet mesh with a thong (neither her nipples or buttocks are clearly depicted), a metal bikini exposing deep cleavage, an outfit exposing her bare back and shoulders, one that's cut low up-top and exposes the tops of her breasts, and a form-fitting tube top that accentuates her shapely curves and is torn to reveal her bare midriff.
* Poe wears the same metal bikini and fishnet outfit in one scene each.
* Many background characters in the film have tattoos and piercings.

### Jump Scenes (Heavy)

* Even suddenly slashes and kills a student at the Sith academy after killing her master and staring her down for some time, which prompts his armored militia to loudly fire their blaster rifles throughout the school.
* The group hears noises and slowly walks through a cave, searching for its source, Theni slowly pushing aside a rock only to finding nothing. A giant alien spider monster is then seen behind her and suddenly attacks.
* An alien monster suddenly bursts up through a pier and eats an armored trooper.
* Even's Lightsaber suddenly bursts out of an Imperial Officer's chest and hand, killing him with a brief spray of blood.
* A Droid suddenly jumps at and kills a Stormtrooper from a first-person perspective (the shot follows his bodycam).

### Music (Scary/Tense) (Extreme)

* An extreme amount of dramatic, action-oriented and suspenseful music occurs in the film.

### Music (Inappropriate) (Mild)

* A song says to "Shake your ass" and seems to make disparaging comments about alien species.

### Tense Family Scenes (Extreme)

* Theni had a miscarriage upon getting impaled in the stomach in a Lightsaber fight and cries upon recounting this, claiming that she still gave birth and buried the remains.

### Topics to Talk About (Extreme)

* How the traditionally heroic Jedi are evil in this film and the unanimously evil Empire and Sith are shown to have heroes within.
* Poe Praetorian's gray morality and whether his career as a police officer makes it easier or harder to swallow.
* Discrimination and if the affected should live in fear of it.
* Whether or not AI (Droids) can be or are equal to humans.
* The fact that Even Lienn murders kids for his cause.
* Suicide in the face of danger.
* Radical feminism and who it excludes.
* The film's disproprotionate violence and dark content compared to the rest of the series.
* Abortion, as glass chambers hosting fetuses are destroyed in some scenes.
* Theni's miscarriage upon getting impaled by a Lightsaber.
* Sex work.

## BBFC

15 for strong violence, injury detail, horror, threat, suicide

### Violence 4/5

There are brief scenes of Imperial officers being decapitated and cut in half by falling objects with bloody detail. A man is electrocuted by his environment, with focus on his body burning and his agonized face, before he lies injured and in anguish. People are beheaded, dismembered, and strangled, all without strong injury detail. There are sequences depicting people impaled and eaten by alien creatures, sometimes with bloody detail. A Jedi school is attacked and the children within it are killed by laser guns and lightsabers, but without injury detail. One man kicks another to the floor and then repeatedly stamps on him below frame, a man’s crotch is struck at with a hammer, also below frame, and thumbs are pressed to a man's eyes, but without bloody detail. Frequent scenes of action violence include crunchy blows, headbutts, and neck and bone breaks during battles, in addition to shootings, fistfights and explosions. A character's face is melted by fire. A father threatens to abuse his son with a belt in one scene, but nothing is shown.

### Threat and horror 4/5

There are strong scenes of threat and horror including people being threatened and attacked by monstrous aliens with sharp fangs and claws, children being abducted and held hostage, and characters becoming fanged and demonic. There are many sequences in which people are threatened and attacked by alien organisms, or by people into whose bodies the aliens have entered. Horror sequences include the alien organisms entering people's bodies, causing their limbs to distort and their bones to crack. Scenes of moderate threat include characters being tortured with 'the Force' and fantastical lightning, which causes them agony, as well as characters being held at lightsaber-point.

### Language 2/5

There is use of mild bad language ('dick,' 'shit,' 'asshole,' 'son of a bitch,' 'ass,' 'sod,' 'bugger', 'bastard') as well as very mild terms ('damn,' 'hell,' and 'God').

### Sex 3/5

There are implied sequences of sexual contact with thrusting visible under sheets. There are crude verbal references, including to characters staring at women's breasts.

### Discrimination 2/5

There are infrequent and mild sequences of misogynistic and ableist behavior that are clearly condemned by the film as a whole, including derogatory remarks about women and both physically and mentally disabled people. There is discrimination to fictional social tiers.

### Injury detail 4/5

There are many moderately gory images of frostbite and gangrene on hands and feet, as well as close-up focus on wounds. One sequence depicts a bloody severed animal head. Characters are depicted with facial and bodily injuries, including bullet wounds and burn marks on heads and eye sockets. There is sight of dead bodies, skeletal remains, and cyborgs with visible human intestines and neck wounds. There are also scenes depicting injured Stormtroopers in a hospital, including bloodied hands and bandages as well as cut and bloodstained faces.

### Suicide 4/5

People are seen jumping to their deaths without injury details. While mind-controlled by the villain, Stormtroopers jump out of buildings, blast themselves in the head, and run into gate-like laser beams that decapitate and dismember them without bloody detail. A character bites onto a pill that electrocutes and kills him, similar to cyanide.

### Disturbing images 3/5

A teacher examines the badly injured and swollen corpse of a young student. The state of his body is publicized and depicted in other sequences.

### Theme 3/5

A young girl witnesses her mother's murder. There are scenes of death, funerals, and grief, resulting in intense emotional upset and occasional physical outbursts. There are references to mental illness.

### Rude humour 2/5

There is mild rude humour, with characters wetting and soiling themselves, vomiting, farting, spitting, and falling in fly-swarmed animal feces with splat noises.

### Flashing/flicking lights

This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

## Creator's Encyclopedia

### Fritzle Chips

Fritzle Chips are another name for Fritzle Fries, familiar with both Poe Praetorian and Theni Itaire. While being escorted across Praetor, Theni asked Poe if he knew of a high-quality "chippy," to which he alleged that all of them used animal products in their recipes. Using the Force, Theni located a restaurant with cruelty-free Fritzle Chips, convincing a reluctant Poe to stop there for her.

### Pizza

Green cheese pizza is eaten by one of the Planetary Guard officers while looking through security footage. The green color is a reference to green milk and its overall concept was based on Glowblue Noodles.