In the moment that Luke projected a perfect image of himself into the resistance base and started talking to Leia, uttering his final words to her, I glanced up to my poster above my TV of the original film from 1977, looked at Luke and Leia’s face on it and just thought to myself, “these are my heroes”. They’re mine in the poster and as I glanced back down to my TV and reflected on the fact these the people I was looking at are STILL my heroes. I’ve never seen character evolution across a franchise done as well as it is in Star Wars, and this film in particular. The entire third act, the more intimate look at all the characters, the way it zooms into even the most seemingly insignificant characters such as Paige or the broom boy, perfectly illustrating the idea that a hero can be spawned from any background, Yoda making another appearance, the excellent use of close-ups throughout the film, the retro ‘Star Wars’ editing style, Luke’s watery eyes both as he confronts a young Ben as well as the moment he makes amends to the same kid years later, a kid who, to Luke, represents the weight of the guilt that’s buried him for years and finally confronting that. Steve Yedlin’s cinematography, John Williams’ score, RIAN FUCKING JOHNSON’S DIRECTION OH MY GOD. It’s all perfect to me. I can’t explain the personal impact this film has on me.