Simply put, Denis Villeneuve’s two Dune films are sci-fi masterpieces. Bringing to screen the world of Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel with a grandeur actually fitting of its source material, the filmmaker has shown a balancing act of intriguing character beats and jaw-dropping sensory spectacle that is peerless (sorry, David Lynch fans, but it’s true). Living up to that level of sustained quality would never be easy, especially when transplanted from towering IMAX screens to lounge TVs, but that’s the task that’s been given to Dune: Prophecy as it debuts on Max (aka HBO) – and comes to Showmax in South Africa –next week.
Making that task harder is the fact that Villeneuve is not actually involved with this production, despite original plans for him to not only produce, but also direct several episodes. Similarly, Dune screenwriter Jon Spaihts was originally supposed to be showrunner, only for him to exit as well. Conflicting reports state that either he left to focus on Dune: Part Two, or the folks at HBO weren’t happy with his work. We would need some spice-powered cosmic prescience to know the real story. If that wasn’t enough frontloaded trouble, Dune: Prophecy is also not adapting any of Herbert’s original series of novels, but rather draws its inspiration from Sisterhood of Dune, the first in a trilogy of prequel books written posthumously by Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson. And to describe these titles as “less than well received by fans” would be an understatement.
Thus, it’s come down to new showrunner Alison Schapker (who co-developed the show with Diane Ademu-John) to adapt a story that’s already seen much malignment, and have it match up to a set of films that’s received nothing but the highest praise. And the result so far, after having accessed and assessed the first four episodes of the six-episode first season, is… fine.
Set 10,000 years before the events of the films (or 10,000 B.C. i.e. Before Chalamet, if you will), this prequel series digs into the origins of the Bene Gesserit sect whose genetic and political machinations will eventually result in Paul Atreides, the prophesied superpowered “Kwisatz Haderach”. But these are the early days of the Sisterhood, as they are still called, and even they have not yet discovered many of the genetic gifts they would later use to manipulate the universe-spanning Imperium and its Great Houses. The universe is still reeling from the Butlerian Jihad, a great war that saw mankind battle and destroy its would-be cybernetic overlords. The result of that conflict was a strict ban on the existence of “thinking machines”, with humanity instead turning inward to further enhance the abilities of the species. Key to that is spice, the nearly supernatural substance found only on the harsh desert planet Arrakis, which prolongs life and provides extra-sensory abilities.
It’s in this world we are introduced to Valya and Tula Harkonnen, sisters whose besmirched family name marks them as outliers, but who manage to rise through the ranks of the Sisterhood and eventually control it. We follow their story in two timelines: Young Valya (Jessica Barden), dangerously ambitious and stubborn, is seeking revenge on past familial transgressions right as she’s taken under the wing of the Sisterhood’s founder, Mother Superior Raquella. Young Tula (Emma Canning) finds herself swept up in her sister’s plotting, forced to endure great personal sacrifice as a result. Decades later, Valya (Emma Watson) is now Mother Superior of the Sisterhood, with Tula (Olivia Williams) by her side as Reverend Mother. Together they are trying to enact Mother Superior Raquella’s plan of controlling the universe through subtle politicking and handpicked genetic unions courtesy of the many Sisterhood Truthsayers embedded in the Great Houses of the Imperium as advisers.
This includes the house of Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong), ruler of the known universe, whose headstrong daughter, Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), is set to join the Sisterhood after committing to a pre-arranged marriage with a young boy from a powerful house that will help bolster her father’s control of Arrakis. Ynez has been training under the private tutelage of Reverend Mother Kasha (Jihae), the Emperor’s Truthsayer, before joining the Sisterhood proper. This is much to the dismay of the order’s acolytes, who have spent years enduring physical and mental trials to earn their place in the Sisterhood. These include fiery Sister Jen (Faoileann Cunningham), the religiously feverous Sister Emeline (Aoife Hinds), the secretly powerful Sister Theodosia (Jade Anouka), and the young and empathetic Sister Lila (Chloe Lea). The latter two are the respective favourites of Valya and Tula for reasons that become clear later.
Stepping into all of this with the subtlety of a desert storm is Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a soldier who was stationed on Arrakis and is the last surviving member of his squadron following an attack by the local Fremen people. On Arrakis though, Hart experienced something seemingly impossible which has left him with an inexplicable and violently deadly gift. It’s a gift he has now freely offered and wielded on behalf of Emperor Javicco, without the latter’s approval, resulting in a public outcry from the houses. Already seen as losing his grip on his empire, being viewed increasingly as weak by his rivals, Javicco is faced with the choice of embracing or banishing the mysterious, zealous Hart.
Add to this milieu some dissenters who don’t believe the ban on thinking machines should be upheld, rebels who want to overthrow the Imperium, Javicco’s irresponsible party-boy son, Valya and Tula’s personal feud with House Attreides (who they believe the source of their House’s disgrace), Javicco’s Atreides swordmaster making goo-goo eyes at Princess Ynez, and a damning prophecy about a “Reckoning” that has seemingly gripped all the acolytes. It’s a lot.
And in just four episodes, while it’s all very intriguing, there’s never a moment that outright wowed me. Much of this is due to Dune: Prophecy often feeling like somebody was not so much trying to make a TV series prequel to the award-winning Dune movies, but rather “Game of Thrones in space”. We even get that HBO show’s much mocked first season “sexposition” scenes here! And with nearly all the story set in the Sisterhood’s convent on Wallach IX, the Emperor’s grand Palace on Salusa Secundus, and the frigid climes of the Harkonnen homeworld Lankiveil, there’s not much of the fantastical widescreen weirdness nor any of the sci-fi combat so inherent in Herbert’s original books.
Instead, there’s a whole lot of characters standing around in austere rooms plotting. And not the type of theatrical plotting done while floating with a gravity-belt either. Mundane political machinations are the order of the day here. While that worked for Game of Thrones, due to it sprinkling in shock and awe to keep pulses high, Dune: Prophecy doesn’t really have those moments of dramatic oomph outside of a pair of unexpected early deaths. Even swapping out sandworms for dragons doesn’t quite have the same impact, as the mythical giant beasts, so important to the eventual story of Paul Atreides, here only pop up in dream sequences or very brief flashbacks.
The production values are top notch though, with expensive CG visuals for spacecraft and palatial worlds, and meticulously constructed sets mimicking the sci-fi brutalist architecture Villeneuve used in his films. Paradoxically though, the latter hurts the show a bit. Dune: Prophecy’s directors are, to put it frank, simply not Villeneuve. They do a solid job in translating this literary world to screen, but don’t have Villenueve’s eye for artistic grandiosity, often resulting in set locations that feel like set locations. They become rooms for actors to occupy instead of glimpses into a larger awe-inspiring living world.
Not that the actors aren’t doing their bit to draw you in, with the cast uniformly solid. The thespian highlights, though, are Travis Fimmell’s slightly unhinged Hart and Jessica Barden’s imperious young Valya, stopping at nothing to attain her goals. Olivia Williams also gets to do good work as Tula, but surprisingly, despite her many accolades and top billing here, Emily Watson isn’t really asked to do too much as the older Valya. Then again, the show could be taking another page out of Game of Thrones’ book, which always kept its big explosive moments for its penultimate episode of the season and then concluded its character arcs in the finale. With Dune: Prophecy, reviewers haven’t been privy to either of those equivalent episodes.
Deprived of that climax, whatever it may be, it becomes rather difficult to judge Dune: Prophecy’s first season. Similarities to its HBO predecessor aside, the show introduces enough lore and mystery in its story that fans will probably want to see how it all plays out (Having never read “Sisterhood of Dune”, the worldbuilding of these proto-Bene Gesserit is of particular interest to me as well). These plot points and some unexpected character reveals mean I was also never really bored, but at no point while watching these episodes did I ever feel like this was must-watch TV either. It all just lacks a little… spice.
NOTE: With the crucial final two episodes of Season 1 not available to us, we’re not including a review score for now.
Dune: Prophecy starts airing on M-Net and Showmax express from the US on Monday, 18 November 2024, with new episodes arriving weekly.