“You inherit too much power”, Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling), leader of the Bene Gesserit order, snarks at Paul Atredides (Timothée Chalamet).
“What, because I am a Duke’s son?” He questions.
“Because you are Jessica’s son,” She replies.
This short interaction from Dune: Part One sets up the dynamic of power that penetrates all of Dune: Part Two (Dir. Denis Villeneuve). Power, who has it, who wields it, and what it is used for.
Dune: Part Two follows directly on from Part One, Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are with the Freman in the middle of the barren desert following the savage attack by the Harkonnen which killed his father and nearly everyone he knows.
Paul’s plan is to learn from the Freman and help them defeat the Harkonnen and get the Freman’s planet back. To do this, he is going to disrupt their spice harvesting. This film is based on the book Dune by Frank Herbert, you can easily see the analogy of spice being Oil and the Freman taking on many Middle Eastern flavours.
Meanwhile, many forces are trying to manipulate or exert power to achieve their desired ends. The Bene Gesserit have plans upon plans. They are female-only entity and subtly influence all of the men in the story, who have a better penchant for physical violence, whereas the Bene Gesserit act with psychological violence. This is displayed in The Voice, a mind control technique which makes the hearer do the bidding of the speaker, removing free will.
One person the Bene Gesserit tries to influence is the Emperor’s Daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Reverend Mother Mohiam councils her and the Princess in turn councils her father the Emperor (Christopher Walken).
Jessica, also trained as a Bene Gesserit, uses her skills to become the Reverend Mother of the Freman. She is converting people to the messiah myth that was planted hundreds of years earlier that Paul is the Mahdi, the one who leads us to paradise. Rising many fanatics to her cause, Paul, using the powers of the spice, knows if he goes that path millions of people will die and so he fights against it.
Meanwhile, there is another who might rival Paul. A Harkonnen by the name of Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) rises in power and the Bene Gesserit takes interest in sending Lady Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux) to test him and his limits.
With all the political power movers shaking their sticks, Love doesn’t seem to stand a chance. Chani (Zendaya), a Freman warrior that Paul has seen in his dreams is real, and they fall in love. She doesn’t believe the myths that they need a saviour from another land (A white saviour myth). She just wants to be with the person she loves.
Within the Freman, some people believe the myth and stoke the fire that Paul is the Messiah and they should rally to his cause.
The forces of the Emperor, the Bene Gesserit, the Harkonnens, Jessica, and the Freman, all pull at Paul, wanting him for their ends or to dispose of him for nothing supporting their power.
The film is stacked with actors. I didn’t even mention Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), Stilgar (Javier Bardem), Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista) and Anya Taylor-Joy: I won’t spoil who she plays. The cast is obscenely deep in skill and experience. The cinematography (Greig Fraser) is stunning and it has a Hans Zimmer score, what more could you want?
Well, it just finishes, because there is a Dune: Part Three coming. Like the first film, it rests on the final film to see if it sticks the landing. I hope it does.
3rd March 2024
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe