Spice opera

The promised hour has arrived. All around the world, unruly hordes are rushing to the cinema. Studio executives are rubbing their hands in glee.

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 predecessor. It has already received rave reviews. For Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw, the film is a "staggering spectacle" that "lands with a sternumThe long flat bone in the central part of the chest. -juddering crash". His Telegraph counterpart Robbie Collin found it "stately and sinister".³

Set on the barren planet Arrakis, home to colossal sand worms and a mystical drug called spice, Dune features stunning landscapes, lavish costumes and exhilarating action sequences.

But there is more to Dune than thrills. The films are based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, 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 the aristocratic Leto Atreides is murdered, his son Paul flees to the desert. He then plots his revenge, with the help of a group of marginalisedTreating a person, group or idea as if they are unimportant. 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 come to believe that Paul Atreides is the saviour who will allow them to rise up against the empire. Paul mirrors Jesus. While the son of God retreats to the desert to battle the devil. Paul goes into it to tame and ride a sand worm.

Paul also reflects Islam. The Fremen's costumes are modelled on the Middle East. While Paul battles his imperial rivals for the throne, Muhammed waged war on his own tribe to establish a Muslim kingdom. Dune ends with Paul about to embark on a religious crusadeA type of aggressive campaign. Between the 11th and 13th Centuries, the Crusades were a series of religious wars.. Herbert uses the Arabic word jihadAn Arabic word meaning "struggle". In the past it has been adopted by terrorist groups. to describe the hero's actions.

Yet Dune also subverts prophecy. Readers discover that Paul was bred to artificially produce a saviour who would take the throne. As philosopher Jonny Thomson writes: "the 'prophecies' and religious fervour of the Freman were cynically and deliberately planted". The prophecies are long-aged political schemes. We should distrust them.

The Fremen do not just echo ancient history. 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 draws on TE Lawrence, the British army officer and writer whose actions shaped the map of the modern day Middle East. Prophecy is just one of Dune's many layers.

Is Dune prophetic?

Yes: Dune is not 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.