Niko Tavernise
Meanwhile, Paul’s mother, Jessica, is going on her own deeply fascinating journey. A member of the witchy sisterhood cult of the Bene Gesserit, she is one of the supernaturally gifted puppet masters who effectively pull the strings, guiding and controlling the male leaders of the empire. Jessica agrees to drink the ‘Water of Life’ in order to become the tribe’s new Reverend Mother. In doing so, she is granted new spiritual powers and her eyes are opened to the full picture — she sees all potential future paths with newfound clarity, and, in turn, she sees the path that will offer safety for her bloodline. Although she and Paul are the sole survivors from house Atreides, she is pregnant, and, with her newfound spiritual powers, she soon begins conferring with her unborn daughter. And so, she teeters on the edge of full-blown crazy lady and all-seeing, all-powerful witch. She is driven by emotion, but, simultaneously, she is ferociously clearsighted and dogged in her determination to carve a safe path for her remaining family members. It’s quietly dark and satisfyingly creepy — and, of course, completely fascinating stuff.
As for the other women in the film, they are, though playing relatively small characters, given interesting arcs and multiple levels to play. Florence Pugh makes her first appearance in the franchise as Princess Irulan, the daughter of the Emperor. Trained by the Bene Gesserit, she holds the power and is already swaying her indecisive father (played by Christopher Walken). Lea Seydoux also appears briefly as Lady Margot, a young Bene Gesserit who seduces the wonderfully erratic villain Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). Indeed, Dune: Part Two is overshadowed with the growing sense of the Bene Gesserit’s deep-seated wisdom and power — theirs is a power that does not pick sides, but lurks in the shadows pulling the strings.
Niko Tavernise
Niko Tavernise
The men of Dune are loud and, often governed by pure impulse and emotion. As Paul, Chalamet yells and roars and thumps his chest. Butler, the film’s young villain, is merely a different side of the same coin: a psychotic Harkonnen who repeatedly kills on a whim, he is all bluster and emotion. Javier Bardem’s Stilgar, an ardent believer in Paul’s messianic status, is an overzealous obsessive whose eyes well up every time a new element of the prophecy is fulfilled. Conversely, each expression of female power is quiet, shadowy, measured, but, in the long-run, far more effective. After the first film relegated women to the shadows, the second film shows us why: in this patriarchal world, that’s how the powerful women have to operate.
The film ends with Zendaya’s Chani setting out on her own path after seeing first-hand what the quest for power and religious zeal has done to the people she loves. Though not a Bene Gesserit, she, like the other women, is clear-sighted in her own way.
On the surface, Dune is your typical male-dominated sci-fi fare — but look a little deeper, and you’ll see it is women who are some of the most complex characters on screen: they are capable of cruelty, kindness, love, intelligence, scheming, ferocity and planning. But like the giant worms that burrow below the sandy dunes of Arrakis, they lurk below the surface until it is their moment to strike. And after last year’s cultural mania around girlhood, these fierce, powerful and often morally dubious women could not be more refreshing.
Dune: Part Two releases is UK cinemas on 1 March 2024.
Meg Walters
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