REVIEW: ‘Star Wars Visions’ Volume 2 Episode 4 – “I Am Your Mother”

Where many of the episodes of Star Wars Visions Volume 2 focus on intimate personal character journies surrounding the conflict between good and evil, “I Am Your Mother” takes a different approach. From British studio Aardman Animations and director Magdalena Osinska, Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Episode 4 trades the fantastical set pieces for a fun yet powerful message for families to enjoy. By the episode’s end, viewers are reminded that not all Star Wars stories need a tragic plot or impending doom to have a lasting impression on fans.

Pairing the studio behind hit series like Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run and Star Wars together provides a recipe for something new and exciting for both franchises. Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Episode 4 follows Annisoukaline Kalfus (Charithra Chandran), a young twi’lek girl enrolled at the Hanna City Flight Academy on Chandrila. Anni, as she is called by her friends and mother Kalina Kalfus (Maxine Peake), is set to attend the end-of-the-year family race at the academy. There is only one problem, she didn’t tell her mother about the race.

Like many characters in Star Wars Visions Volume 2 is unhappy with her circumstances. Alongside her mother and Z-1, Anni lives on a space tug beneath the high rises of Hanna City. Kalina, a resourceful yet eccentric twi’lek, is a single mother trying her best to make ends meet as her daughter pursues her dreams. In true teenager fashion, Anni is embarrassed by her mother and their life in poverty and would rather forgo the family race than risk a public appearance. However, when a prim, proper, and elitist mother-daughter duo disrespects the Kalfus family, it serves as just the catalyst to bring Anni and Kalina together.

With great shame, I resonated with Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Episode 4 more than I care to admit. Like Kalina, my own mother carried the weight of our family through some very difficult times. Despite her hectic work schedule that at times required her to work two jobs, she still made time to attend as many after-school events as she could. While in attendance, everybody knew it as she was the loudest one in the stadium, court, auditorium, or wherever whatever new thing I was trying took place. Where now I see it as a mother willing to make up hours in overtime to support her child, teenage me only saw the embarrassing, boisterous woman who rolled up in the beat-up minivan.

When Anni’s embarrassment bubbles to the surface, I was sent right back to the similar interaction I had with my own mother following a middle school basketball game. I saw the hurt of my mother reflected in the eyes of Kalina. It’s in this moment that Star Wars and the entire Star Wars Visions stand as so important. Outside of the Jedi and the Sith or the Rebels and the Empire, Star Wars is grounded in beautiful, personal character moments. “I Am Your Mother” provides these moments without the fantastical elements seen in the other episodes in season 2.

In addition to a powerful message for parents and their children alike, Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Episode 4 is chock-full of fun references and Easter Egg scattered throughout. Even after multiple rewatches, there is something new I notice whether it is a portapotty for wookies or a Max Rebo stuffed animal. Further, the inclusion of Wedge Antilles voiced by the original actor Denis Lawson provides for much-needed comedic relief in a volume full of very emotionally taxing episodes.

While Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Episode 4 may not go down as the best episode of the season, it will surely strike a chord with a specific group of people. Aardman Animations and director Magdalena Osinska prove that you don’t need the Force and intense battles to have a great Star Wars story. In a franchise that rarely sees a parent-child relationship have a happy ending, it is truly a story worth telling. “I Am Your Mother” will cause you to take a pause to reflect on your relationship with those who raised you and the important role they played in shaping who you are today.

Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Episode 4 is streaming now exclusively on Disney+.

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 Review

Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology series featuring celebratory expressions of Star Wars storytelling. Seven Japanese anime studios brought their unique talents and perspective to “Star Wars: Visions – Volume 1.” Launching in 2023, Volume 2 will feature stories from creative teams from Chile, France, Japan, India, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S.