Dune: Prophecy Foretells an Excitingly Muddled Future
Image Courtesy of HBO
By Luis Zonenberg
While we wait for Denis Villeneuve to inject himself with more spice for his Dune: Messiah adaptation, audiences can find solace in Dune: Prophecy until then. The prequel series focuses on the formation of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood amidst political turmoil surrounding the Great Houses. Considering the creative overhaul the series faced in the last five years, I went in worried it would fail to compare to Villeneuve’s recent films.
Focusing purely on the first episode titled The Hidden Hand, we see Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) take command of a hidden sect after the death of the Mother Superior. There is some Bridgerton-style intrigue as a wedding takes place in hopes of preserving the sisterhood. Mystery and thrills soon follow in the wake of Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) which could spell certain doom for Valya and her sisters.
While it’s too early to tell how the series will compare to Villenueve’s films, I can say that the sets and costumes are very similar in tone and style. Judging by the first episode’s story though, they try to clearly establish this series exists in the same world as those films. While doing so, the first episode cannot help but feel like a hollow imitation of the movies most of the time when you compare the two.
What keeps this show afloat, though, is mostly in the form of Travis Fimmel’s character. His performance as Desmond Hart injects some much-needed suspense and mystery that was sorely lacking throughout most of the running time. Aside from some palace intrigue and an exciting wedding ceremony, most of the episode is dedicated to table-setting for future episodes to come.
The performances in this are quite strong, especially from Emily Watson and Mark Strong. The latter portrays Emperor Corrino, and Strong delivers another stellar performance as his character oversees the marriage of his daughter to Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prio). Aside from Fimmel, Strong and Watson do most of the heavy lifting as the rest trudge through a typical Bridgerton-esque storyline.
Despite the mystery and political thrills, this first entry can’t help but feel like setting the stage for the real story to unravel in the coming weeks. Much of the real suspense and meat of the story only come in small doses until the last few minutes of the episode. If you’re not won over by the royal scandals and mysterious witchcraft, then I would hold off on checking out Dune: Prophecy for now. The first episode is now streaming on HBO and Max, with future episodes airing weekly until December 22nd.
Rating: ★★★ ½ of five
