Film: Dune (2021)

Are you looking for a film to watch with stunning visuals, a rich yet confusing plot, and more smouldering Timothee Chalomet shots than is probably healthy.

Swoon.

Then Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) is the film for you. The film is an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel with the same title. Set in a seemingly distant future, we follow the story of Paul, son of the noble Atreides family, who were entrusted with the planet Arrakis, which is covered in scorching desert, but also provides the “Spice”, the universe’s most valuable commodity. You can probably guess what’s next:

“Spice” is the sauce. Pretty much covers it.

On paper, this film should be everything I like: Epic plot, sci-fi, fantasy world full of worms and magic. And yet… Meh.

The film is full of beautiful shots, but I couldn’t really get into the story. There were too many characters and too little development, and it feels like we would need a whole other film just to understand the context. My impression is that the book would be better, frankly (pun on the author’s name entirely intentional).

Recommendation: Pass (but maybe read the books?)