Two years, five months and four days have passed since then Sand Dunes: Part One It's been released in theaters, but who's counting? After a delay due to the strike, the sequel's fall 2023 release date has been cancelled. The story will finally continue when Sand Dunes: Part Two Opens March 1st. If you haven't recently seen the first installment of Denis Villeneuve's ambitious take on Frank Herbert's acclaimed sci-fi epic, or you just need a little help keeping the dense mythology straight, read on. We've put together a handy primer that'll walk you through everything that's happened so far.
Who are the main players in this story? What do they want? Where do they stand? To keep things simple, we've broken all this information down into sections based on the world of the Great Houses of the Dune and some other sets that will have a vital role to play in the next movie. With many new characters to be introduced The second partit wouldn't hurt to go into this with a thorough understanding of the people we've already met.
Atreides' house
When the story begins, Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) has been given jurisdiction over the highly profitable spice mines on the planet Arrakis. The spice has psychological effects, but its main value is that it makes interstellar travel possible. As the saying goes, “the spice must flow,” so the Duke packs up his family and moves them all to the dangerous desert planet to oversee their new operations.
As the sole source of the spice, Arrakis is of great strategic importance to the intergalactic ruling body known as The Imperium. Although it may seem that granting agency would be a good thing for House Atreides, in reality they are on the verge of failure. Emperor Shaddam IV was jealous of Leto's popularity among the other Great Houses – all but one – and forced the transfer only to anger their greatest enemy, House Harkonnen. The Harkonnens have been running things in Arrakis and having great success in the spice trade for the past eighty years, so they're not happy to give that up.
Leto's wife is Mrs. Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), a member of the Bene Gesserit group (more on her later). It's part of their long ruse to bring a savior into the world, but to achieve this, she's been given instructions to only give birth to daughters. Instead, she chose to give birth to a boy (because Bene Gesserit women are able to do that). This put her in an awkward position with her order, but some believe she may have succeeded in taking on the Chosen One known as the Kwisatz Haderach, “a mind powerful enough to bridge space and time, past and future.”
Then there's their son Paul (Timothée Chalamet), who carries the burden of being the sole heir to his house, and perhaps the prophesied Messiah as well, without having any say in either fate. He has been training on both paths his entire life. He has some of the mental abilities of a Bene Gesserit, including visions and prophetic dreams, but he is also a skilled fighter. When he reaches Arrakis, signs that he is indeed a “Kwisatz Haderach,” or “tongue of the unseen” in local vernacular, begin to grow.
Shortly after their arrival, the Atreides were betrayed and attacked by the Harkonnen, now allied with the Emperor's elite forces, known as the Sardaukar. Paul and Jessica manage to escape, but Leto is captured. His latest act of self-sacrifice is to attempt to eliminate Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and as many of his men as possible via a false tooth filled with poison gas. Many of them die, but the Baron survives.
Paul and his pregnant mother were left in the desert to die, but were discovered by a group of indigenous people, known as the Fremen. One of them is a woman Paul has been seeing in his dreams (but wisely doesn't tell her), played by Zendaya. The Fremen are wary of outsiders, and Paul is forced into a fist fight with one of them, which he wins. So they agreed to host him and his mother.
Harkonnen house
The leader of the house is Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, a rotund and evil fellow who vows revenge on the Atreides for taking Arrakis from him, just as the Emperor had planned. Before leaving they sabotaged the spice production equipment to prevent them from making any profit anytime soon. The Baron then teams up with the Emperor to reclaim Arrakis and destroy his rivals in the process. He also got a side deal with the Emperor Bene Gesserit Truthsayer (Charlotte Rampling) that saw him promise to spare Paul and Jessica in the attack. He gets around this by not killing them directly and hopes that the desert will do his work for him. After getting Arrakis back, he leaves his evil nephew Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista) in charge.
Bene Gesserit
Think of them as an order of witch nuns with psychic powers. They are supposed to act as associates of the Great Houses, but in Paul's words, they “direct the Empire's policy from the shadows.” Their abilities include prediction, mind control, and forcing anyone to do what they command through the use of a technology called “voice.” Their skills are not usually taught to males, with the exception of the Kwisatz Haderach. It's considered too much for Jessica to coach Paul down the road without making sure he's the chosen one first.
Before departing for Arrakis, Jessica gets a visit from Venerable Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, the same Honest summoner of House Harkonnen who happens to be her own tutor. The Reverend Mother gives Paul the “Pain Box” test to determine his abilities and willpower. After he passes the test, she acknowledges that he may indeed be the chosen one, but is keeping her options open.
Fremen
The indigenous people of Arrakis live in underground communities called sietches, where they practice traditions they have honed over thousands of years to help them survive the dangerous conditions imposed by their native word. They have developed complex technology, such as static suits that filter and retain moisture from their bodies, allowing them to cross the hot, dry desert, where temperatures can reach 140 degrees. They also have a reverence for the sandworms that inhabit the planet (and are also interesting). Popcorn bucket designs) which they call immortality tea. Their constant exposure to the spice gives them deep blue eyes and health benefits such as increased awareness and longevity. The Harkonnen family estimates that there are approximately 50,000 of them on the planet, but their numbers are actually closer to a million.
Leto's plan was to ally with the Fremen and rely on their support in the inevitable conflict with House Harkonnen. Paul, now the new Duke after his father's death, is determined to finish what he started. But he has a vision of a future of “the holy war that spreads across the universe like unquenchable fire” and that will be fought in his father's name.
When we pick up the story in the next film, Paul has been living with the Freemans and learning their ways. Their legend includes a story about a figure known as “the Mahdi,” a stranger from another world who will lead them to heaven. This myth is actually the work of the Bene Gesserit, who began planting the idea many generations ago. Some of them began to believe that Paul could be that savior. It's something he has to come to terms with, whether he wants to or not. Their strength and skills will come in handy when it comes time to face off again against the forces of House Harkonnen.
. “Professional creator. Lifelong thinker. Reader. Beer buff. Troublemaker. Evil problem solver.”