When Dune: Part One (finally) came out in October 2021, it had a lot to live up to. Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi epic takes place in a far-future, planet-spanning human civilization in which rival dynastic families vie for control of a grand empire — and especially for control of the spice melange. A substance found only on the desert planet Arrakis, it, among other things, enables interstellar travel in the Dune universe. Dune centers on House Atreides, and its scion Paul, who are lured into taking over the spice franchise on Arrakis as part of a trap laid by their enemies, the Harkonnens.
In Dune, Herbert created more than just a fascinating and fully realized universe. He also filled it with complex and mature themes about the workings of fate, destiny, and power, and the dangers of false messiahs. Prior adaptations have failed to capture its grandeur, especially when forcibly compressed. So it was understandable that director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) divided his attempt at Dune in two. Though the first part featured gorgeous visuals, a stacked cast, and more-than-adequate faithfulness to the source text, its contrived denouement was unsatisfactory. “When, after this climax, I got a credits sequence, what I really wanted was an intermission,” I wrote then.
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