Dune: Prophecy Series Premiere Review

On By Littum

The following review contains spoilers for the first episode of Dune Prophecy, “The Hidden Hand.”

The tasks assigned to “The Hidden Hand” seem insurmountable. The premiere of Dune: Prophecy is asked to establish a huge cast of characters and the relationships and conflicts between those characters, all while introducing audiences to an era of the Dune universe never before depicted on screen – one that is in in many specific ways, very different from the interplanetary Empire of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and Dune: Part II. And speaking of Villeneuve, “The Hidden Hand” will also recreate the atmosphere of his Dune films on a much smaller budget. So honestly, it’s pretty remarkable how much the episode is able to accomplish in its time-and-change runtime, while also disappointing that it’s not a complete success.

“The Hidden Hand” is much better at adding lore to the Dune universe than it is at telling a story. I’m not a big fan of voiceover, but hearing the story of the Butler jihad and the role the Atreides and Harkonnens played in it is just the right kind of lore dump that will make fans of the Dune universe dig deeper sitting. in their seats (although I’m still salty they called it “the wars against the thinking machines”). It is interesting to see the universe so recently freed from the bonds of the thinking machines, where people so easily slip back into trusting them. But when the premiere delves into the Emperor’s gross political problems with House Richese, it never sparks any interest. It’s a story that feels more in line with the Star Wars prequels and their trade unions than the sprawling sci-fi epic we’ve come to love, and slows down the episode’s momentum.

However, this does not mean that every element in its current thread pulls out. There’s a lot to chew on with the sisterhood and the war itself about how to move forward into the future, and the foreshadowing of Tiran-Arafael and the reckoning that Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) represents. Getting Emily Watson and Olivia Williams in the roles of Valya and Tula Harkonnen doesn’t hurt things either, as they consistently elevate the sometimes dry writing. Jessica Barden and Emma Canning aren’t often able to do the same, coming off as stiff and awkward as the younger Valya and Tula, but that seems more a symptom of the clunky dialogue. There are enough carrots on the stick between Tiran-Arafael, the backstories of the Harkonnen sisters, and Sister Lila’s lineage to keep “The Hidden Hand” from getting stuck in the mundane. But it definitely feels uneven.

There is also an imbalance in the premiere’s presentation. With the budget of a premium-cable series and not a big-studio blockbuster, Dune: Prophecy tries its best to fit the mold set by Dune and Dune: Part II, but more often than not, it doesn’t feel like an imitation. “The Hidden Hand” has its ups and downs, with its CGI often cracking under the pressure of comparison to its big-screen counterparts, while the costumes and sets feel like costumes and sets rather than helping to build a coherent, compelling and immersive fictional worlds. Every now and then there’s a moment of greatness – Kasha’s nightmare sequence and the horrifying burning of the young Master Richese come to mind – but the premiere never quite manages to blend into Dune’s universe.