Regarded as the one of the greatest, most influential science fiction novels, the Dune series has been celebrated for its world-building complemented by complex political, religious, and ecological themes. Deemed too intricate and complex to adapt into movies, many filmmakers have struggled to film and keep true to the original text. In 2021, Denis Villeneuve delivered what is now widely regarded as the most successful and faithful adaptation of Dune to date.
Dune follows Paul Atreides, a young prince born into privilege but burdened with expectations from his family. From the beginning, Paul is torn between who he wants to be and who others believe he should be. His visions show him futures of war, violence and religious extremism committed in his name. Paul fears this greatness and runs away from it unlike most cinematic heroes. This tension between destiny and choice becomes the central theme for the film.
Arrakis, the desert planet at the heart of the film, serves as a powerful metaphor for colonial exploitation and imperialism. The planet’s most valuable source in the universe—spice—fuels interstellar travel and controls the economy, but the people of Arrakis, the Fremen, live in poverty and hardship, taken advantage of by their overlords known as the Harkonnens. Even when the control of the planet changes between the Houses, the suffering of the Fremen persists. Villeneuve presents Arrakis not as a land to be saved, but as a land being used, echoing real-world history of imperialism and resource exploitation.
Throughout the movie, Paul is shadowed by the Bene Gesserit, an order that has spent generations manipulating bloodlines, religions, and cultures to engineer political control. They plant the myths and stories among the oppressed people, so that when Paul arrives, he is seen as a divine figure, the Messiah there to save them from oppression. The Fremen’s acceptance of Paul wasn’t organic, but the result of calculated engineering of the Bene Gesserit for their own agenda. It makes the audience think and confront an uncomfortable truth: belief can be manufactured and weaponized faith.
The visual and sound language is a major driving force in this film. Hans Zimmer’s score evokes a sense of unease and inevitability. The music is not heroic. It is alien, overwhelming, and unheard of in other movies. The thunderous percussion and chanting voices mirror the weight of Paul’s upcoming conflicts and the unexplainable events that unravel around him. The film uses silence during the space scenes to create a sense of scale and realism in the void of space. It reminds the audience of how small humans are against the scale of the universe.
Visually, Dune immerses the audience through striking landscapes and contrast in color. Villeneuve depicts Giedi Prime, the Harkonnen’s home planet, in black and white under a “black sun,” symbolizing their ruthlessness and strong nature of brutality. Arrakis, on the other hand, is a beaming planet of shifting sand dunes symbolizing its hostile and untameable environment, forcing constant adaptation for survival. The colossal sandworms serve as the ultimate symbol of power of the planet and the Fremen’s relationship with it. They are both the protectors of spice and a force of destruction to be reckoned with.
Paul’s constant visions of a holy war suggest that well-intentioned governance can lead to catastrophic consequences. Destiny, or rather manipulated destiny, is not celebrated but criticized. Paul quickly becomes a representation of how easily hope and faith can transform into obsession and fanaticism.
Dune makes it clear that Paul’s presence on the desert planet will have lasting effects on the universe. What begins as the arrival of a Messiah turns into the slow rise of something far more dangerous. In a world desperate for freedom and salvation, the belief of a chosen one can be destructive as it is comforting. True salvation does not come from prophecy, but from the collective responsibility and courage to question destiny and those who claim power over it.
