Spice opera

The promised hour has arrived. All around the world, unruly hordes are rushing to the cinema.

Today sees the release of Dune: Part Two, the eagerly awaited second half of director Denis Villeneuve's epic science fiction movie. The first was a commercial smash¹ that won numerous awards.²

Part Two is on course to outgun its predecessorThe person who had a job before the current holder.. Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw calls it a "staggering spectacle". His Telegraph counterpart Robbie Collin found it "stately and sinister".³

Dune features stunning landscapes, lavishSpending more money than is reasonable. costumes and exhilarating action sequences. But there is more to it than thrills. The films are based on a 1965 novel by the American writer Frank Herbert, often considered the greatest sci-fi novel ever written.

The plot follows rival families as they plot to take control of an intergalactic empire. After Leto Atreides is murdered, his son Paul flees to the desert. He then plots his revenge, with the help of a group of poor desert-dwellers called the Fremen.

It is a simple story. But it has many real world parallels. In particular Herbert draws on the Hebrew Bible, a religious text sacred in the AbrahamicThe religions (including Christianity, Islam and Judaism) that recognise Abraham as part of their faith. religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Bible contains numerous prophets. These are figures with a God-given power to predict the future. They often claim that a messiahThe promised and expected deliverer of the Jewish people. will come to save the Jewish people from oppression.⁴ For Christians, Jesus is the fulfilment of this prophecy.

Dune's Fremen also believe in a messiah. They think that Paul Atreides is the saviour who will allow them to rise up against the empire.

Paul mirrors Jesus. The son of God goes to the desert to battle the devil. Paul goes into it to tame a sand worm.

Paul also reflects Islam. While Paul battles his imperialRelating to an empire. rivals for the throne, Muhammed waged war on his own tribe to establish a Muslim kingdom.

Yet Dune also questions the truth of prophecy. We discover that Paul was bred to produce a saviour who would take the throne. The prophecies were planted to help political schemes. Herbert actually encourages us to distrust mystical predictions.

The Fremen echo religion. But they also evoke indigenousEthnic groups who are the original or earliest-known inhabitants of an area or country: for example, Native Americans in the USA. groups fighting against a colonialWhen a region or country is controlled politically by another. power. Paul calls to mind a religious messiah. Prophecy is just one of Dune's many layers.

Is Dune prophetic?

Yes: Dune isn't just about prophecy. It is prophetic. Dwindling resources, arid climates, extreme views... Herbert presents a fantastical version of what our world might look like in a few hundred years.

No: Dune looks futuristic. But its concerns are drawn from history. From a declining empire to the rise of a world-conquering desert religion, Herbert is retelling Rome's fall and Christianity's rise.

Or... Dune draws on religious allegoryA story or poem that has a hidden moral or political meaning. . But it contains multitudes. Herbert's work is also a critique of these faiths, an attack on colonialism, a look at indigenous people's struggles and an action-packed sci-fi yarn.