It’s been over a year since Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit the big screen, and as Star Wars fans nervously await for Star Wars: Episode VIII, a Star Wars stand-alone film was gifted to loyal fans on December 15.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a spin off to the Star Wars saga, takes place after the prequels and immediately before Star Wars: A New Hope, the first Star Wars film.

This stand-alone film awakens nostalgia of all the previous films released before it. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story takes its viewers away from the Skywalker family and into a new perspective of tales only mentioned in the core movies.

The two-hour journey is action-intensive, and brings you into the reality of the wars of the films. There are very few, if any, calm moments in the film, and although the ending is already assumed due to it being a prequel, you never know what is going to happen next.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is full of familiar faces from the original trilogy as well as the prequels, along with a new cast of previously unnamed heroes and villains in the Star Wars universe.

The movie also uses an impressive amount of CGI to reanimate characters from older films, yet it can be difficult to accept and not be distracted by what they are.

Audiences will be left with chills as iconic Star Wars characters get a more in-depth treatment in this film.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a thrilling adventure that makes viewers question where they  stand. Star Wars films show us the difference between the light and the dark, and Rogue One shows us that there is a bit more to it than that.

At the end of the film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story gives us all a new hope, and it is definitely worth a watch.