Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival; Sicario; Prisoners; Blade Runner 2049) and starring Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name; Beautiful Boy; Lady Bird; Little Women; A Rainy Day in New York), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout; Doctor Sleep; The White Queen; The Greatest Showman; Life; The Snowman; The Girl on the Train) and Zendaya (Spider-Man:Homecoming; The Greatest Showman; Malcolm&Marie).

Science Fiction, 166 mins, 12+

This is the sequel to the Dune film which came out in 2021, based on the novel of the same name, written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965.

Dune (Part 2) returns to the various distant planets including Arrakis, a desert planet where “spice” is a precious resource many attempt to harvest and control. The deserts are guarded by gigantic sandworms, however, named Shai-Hulud by the locals. These worms move at incredible speed underground and can swallow anything that stands in their path.

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is the son of a noble family born into a prophesied destiny he barely understands, has recently lost his father to a bloodshed that almost killed him, too. To ensure the future of his family, he flees with his mother, Lady Jessica Atreides (Rebecca Ferguson) into the inhospitable, open deserts. The film follows Paul Atreides as he unites with the Fremen people of the desert planet Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen. 

Following the destruction of House Atreides by House Harkonnen, Princess Irulan, daughter of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, suspects that Paul Atreides might still be alive. On Arrakis, Paul and his mother Lady Jessica, among Fremen troops, face suspicions but also exhibit signs of a prophecy foretelling their influence for Arrakis. Jessica undergoes a transformative ritual, inheriting memories that make her the new Reverent Mother for the Fremen and making it possible to communicate with her unborn daughter Alia. Paul, now named Usul and Muad'Dib, falls in love and embraces the Fremen ways.

Baron Harkonnen installs his cruel and dangerous nephew Feyd-Rautha as ruler, while Lady Margot Fenring evaluates him for a Bene Gesserit prophecy. On this quest, Paul has to go to further lengths than ever before, being faced with the prophecy pushing him into a leadership role he is not willing to take, while his enemies are set to destroy everything he loves. The stakes are high, with tremendous political forces at play as radicalised groups and The Great Houses clash into an emerging holy war.

The film was almost overwhelming in beauty and grandeur. More of the planet Arrakis can be discovered here, including some spine-chilling, horrific scenes of the Harkonnen home planet of Giedi Prime.

The striking cinematography is completed with a well-crafted, moody contrast between scenes of nearly silent yet bloody fighting in the desert, and a rumbling, mysterious soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. While not exactly memorable, the music in Dune 2 perfectly sets the scene and subtly underlines the action.

While it has a relatively abrupt ending, this is a superb adaptation, more captivating than the first film, more fast-paced (perhaps almost too “rushed” at points) and expanding onto convoluted and world-changing family and planetary feuds.