With its gripping storyline and an exceptionally brilliant performance delivered by Diego Luna, who plays the titular Cassian Andor, Andor is rightfully lauded as a prized asset of the Star Wars franchise.
The 12-episode series is a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One, which features the formative years of Cassian Andor as he transforms into a rebel against the Empire. Expectedly, this character-driven show, which is also a new addition to the franchise, was an instant hit and a recipient of critical acclaim and popularity.
Even today, Star Wars aficionados won’t miss out on the show’s various episodes with minute details on any discussion of the franchise and there are fans who have found a peculiar relatability of the series with some of the iconic hits of the past.
This is exactly what happened when one of the Reddit users (MrMeetNGreet) compared the series with the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, about which they said:
“I’m in the process of watching Andor for the first time and just finished episode 9 and I’m loving it. Mainly because episodes 8 and 9 have combined my two favorite movies: Star Wars and Shawshank Redemption……What’s next?! Is Andor going to start working on the Empire’s taxes? Is Clancy Brown going to show up dressed as Ryder but playing Hadley and say “You’ll look good sucking my **** with no teeth!”? In short, Andor is the sci-fi Shawshank Redemption we all need!”
In the middle, they left a blank space to presumably explain the scenes and episodes which allowed them to draw the relation. Saying so, it needs to be mentioned that this isn’t the first time that the connection between the two movies has been made. The episode’s release saw the viewers trying to link the show with the iconic movie.
As we know, the eighth episode of the series, “Narkina 5,” Cassian Andor was imprisoned by the Empire and transported to a factory facility for six years, where he was forced to carry out strenuous physical labor within the walls of his confinement.
Some believe that the prison scene is reminiscent of similar scenes in The Shawshank Redemption, where Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) was imprisoned on the charges of murdering his wife.
Understandably, the comparison was not well-received by other Reddit users, who blatantly disagreed with the comment. One of the users, anitawasright replied: “well no… Andor did commit a crime, he just went to prison for something else. Yeah sorry but this is a pretty bad and very surface level analysis.” Another user, Jekker 5, refuted the theory by saying: “That’s a big stretch and I think mostly in your head.”
Even Andor’s prison foreman, played by Andy Serkins, denied the connections in an interview with Vanity Fair shortly after the episode’s release. Speaking of how the prison experiences of the respective protagonist differed, he explained:
“Shawshank almost feels luxurious because you can get to listen to opera! We did talk about those films. But this was a sterile environment, where you’re not able to have any personal effects. It’s not like someone’s coming around with some library books for you to read or you can go work in the kitchens for a bit or whatever. Even the showering system: a door shuts, we all stand there in line. This vapor comes, you don’t even get to wash. You stand there, and you get vaped. And then you walk out and you put on your work clothes, which are the same as your evening clothes.”
Despite the comparison, which has been deemed flawed by the fans as well as a cast member, both Andor and The Shawshank Redemption continue to be cinematic masterpieces dealing with the themes of hardships and despair in the face of cruelty.