It’s about sand.

OK, a bit more than sand. Just as fantasy has Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, sci-fi has Frank Herbert’s Dune series of novels [1]. Often described as ‘epic’ because Herbert manages to portray a future humanity with all it’s factions, politics, scheming and conflict without descending too far into the minutia, manages to explore a society that feels real but radically different without collapsing into technobabble.

The core mechanism is to focus on one individual, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the heir of the noble House Atreides and the sufferer of the politics of the scheming Emperor, rival House Harkonnen and the quasi-religious Bene Gesserit. As all around is destroyed, Paul and his Bene Gesserit mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) have no choice but to flee into the hostile desert of Dune and place themselves in the hands of the strange Fremen tribesmen. But that very scheming has had an unintended outcome in Paul who sets out [2] to restore the fortunes of his House and gain revenge on those who orchestrated it’s downfall.

The film does a solid job of world-building, explaining the plotting without getting drawn into a dreary lecture and manages to hint at the abilities Paul has without being too explicit. It works. Casting Chalamet has been commented on as a strange pick, but he does an excellent job of portraying an unsure youth suddenly forced to manhood. How well he manages the later transformation to messianic leader remains to be seen. It’s nice to see a sci-fi film that isn’t all about explosions and CGI, but still creates spectacle and impressive scenes.

Actually the film cuts at the point of meeting the Fremen which feels a bit empty. With a bit less foreshadowing lingering looks between Paul and Fremen Chani (Zendaya) and a bit less ‘isn’t-the-desert-stunning’ the film could be shorter (it’s a long 2h25m) and give some hint to Paul’s future path.

Apparently part two has been green lit and with the world-building already covered could move at a faster pace. In fact how they move through the material as it reaches a climax but keep the same feel as the first film is going to be interesting. However it pans out, we finally have an excellent telling of Herbert’s Dune.

[1] and Asimov’s Foundation series.

[2] at least initially…