Dune: Part Two

The direct continuation of the previous film and the second half of the novel. Paul and his mother are in the desert. They join a Fremen group and are not easily accepted. There is a belief in the south. Prophecies about a saviour were planted centuries ago and Paul fits the mould. The northern Fremen are more sceptical. Chani does not believe any of it and objects to Paul being turned into a religion. From there the film is a rise. Raids on spice convoys, riding a worm, a test, a water, and a name. What the narrative is interested in is not heroism but belief being used: the film says Paul is not a chosen one but has been placed inside a story, and does not hide it. The Chani line matters for that reason. The narrative builds her as the objecting voice, and the film's ending departs from the book in this respect. There is a new name on the other side. Feyd-Rautha is introduced in an arena sequence shot in black and white with an infrared camera; the sky is black and the skin white. Scale is again the film's strength. The worms, the convoys and the final assault are framed deliberately to make people look small. It was shot in Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Italy and Budapest. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken are in the cast. Denis Villeneuve directed; the music is by Hans Zimmer. Who it is for: anyone who has seen the first film; the narrative completes here. Who it is not for: anyone starting here; the film introduces nothing.