We Need to Talk About the Hand Scene in “The Last Jedi”
Happy third anniversary to the sexiest Star Wars scene of all time.
It has been exactly three years since Rian Johnson blessed movie screens across the galaxy with The Last Jedi, the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Say what you want about the movie, but The Interlude — in our managing editor’s words — is a pro-TLJ publication. (No slander accepted!) The movie brought so much potential to Star Wars as a whole (A Newer Hope, if you will) by integrating refreshing plot lines, skewing grumpy fanboys’ expectations, and most importantly, introducing the most erotic scene to come out of the franchise.
To recap: Kylo Ren and Rey had just found out that they could communicate with each other through the Force. Rey is on the planet Ach-To still trying to convince Luke Skywalker to train her. Kylo, on the other hand, is still sulking in his quarters parsecs away after he destroyed his Darth Vader tribute helmet (you know, after nearly shooting down his own mother and getting a lecture from his boss). The duo doesn’t choose when to connect with each other, but they just do so when the Force tells them to. In the first couple of meetings, it’s completely awkward. Kylo slides into the hallway after getting his love-scar that Rey gave him in The Force Awakens stitched, and then Rey shoots his figure with a blaster, only in real life to shoot the glorious Fish Nuns who care for the water planet.
Rey calls Kylo somewhat profane things, yelling at him for murdering his hot father, but Kylo doesn’t flinch at all. We see the buildup of Kylo pining for Rey and the truth that comes out of the rise of Kylo Ren, being betrayed by his own uncle. The pop-up meetings are obviously tense, but Kylo’s charm is so alluring in comparison to his whiney self in the previous movie. The audience AND Rey are both enchanted and surprised in how he’s responding. It’s no wonder why all the TikTok Fancams of Kylo are quotes of these meetups remixed with Doja Cat songs. The particular quotes: “You are a monster,” says Rey, “Yes I am,” says Kylo and cue the sultry chorus of “Freak Like Me.” “Let the past die, kill it if you have to” still echoes in my mind from day to day because of Adam Driver’s spicy delivery.
The ultimate meeting — where the two erotically touch hands — arises when Rey and Kylo are at their most vulnerable. Both were manipulated with the truth: Rey learns that she is a nobody (for now) and Kylo has all the pent up anger and mistrust from his mentors and his past. They agree on a truce, to finally accept each other and their fates. The anticipated moment is electric. Kylo removes his slender glove and Rey jolts as she reaches her hand out and they are suddenly in the same hut. The close up shots of their hands and faces peak in satisfaction and they are finally truly connected as John Williams’ “Force Theme” plays heroically in the background. That is, until Uncle Luke cockblocks the duo and ruins the precious moment.
Watching this scene over and over again, the chemistry is steamy and unbelievable.That ten-second scene was the moment of realization of two misfits with opposite upbringings and finding the middle ground. It may not be love, but the desire to be understood rang throughout. Rian Johnson has said that this was the closest thing to a sex scene in the Star Wars Universe. When Kylo reaches out his hand for the last time in the movie, some of us are secretly rooting for Rey to take it because it just feels so right. It does not even compare to the feeble kiss in The Rise of Skywalker, which was highly unexpected and didn’t have any sort of build up to an endgame. The hand-touch scene will forever go down in history as the greatest and hottest Force-Time connection (booty call?) in Star Wars or even in cinema.
