As someone who has never read the books, I was going into my viewing of Dune with absolutely no knowledge of the world or any of the characters. Luckily, I was watching with someone who knew the world very well and who was able to explain things throughout the film. After watching it only once, I can safely say that I want to read the books in the future, because this film was absolutely amazing. 

Quick spoiler-free summary: the story revolves around Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), his father Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and mother Lady Jessica Atreides (Rebecca Ferguson) when they are given control of the planet Arrakis by Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Paul must learn to conquer his own fears in order to save the future of his family and the planet Arrakis when different dangerous forces engage in a conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in the universe. 

The cast was incredible. The performances from Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson and Jason Momoa were fantastic and they give their characters such depth, as if they have been playing them for years. Particularly the relationship portrayed between Paul Atreides and his mother Lady Jessica Atreides was amazing. There are no words to describe their performances. It may have been the best acting I’ve seen from Chalamet and I definitely want to see more films with Ferguson in the future. Both Josh Brolin and Stellan Skarsgård also had very memorable performances, as did Zendaya, even though her screen time did not exceed 15 minutes. Overall, the whole cast worked beautifully together, and even though I’m only beginning to learn about that whole universe, I think that the casting directors made the best choices that they possibly could.

Something else that I absolutely loved from this film was the score. Composed by Hans Zimmer, the score for this film was really the piece that put everything together. It fits magnificently with the visuals of the film, sometimes so well that I did not even notice it because it just made perfect sense with whatever was happening on the screen. But whenever I was able to fully focus on the score, it just blew me away. It was truly something otherworldly, and I would expect nothing less from the German composer. Zimmer has previously worked on the scores for over 200 films, including Dunkirk, Inception, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which was my favorite work of his until Dune. 

And finally, the direction from Denis Villeneuve was astonishing. The film is littered with some of the most stunning shots I’ve ever seen. From shots of rolling sand dunes under the moonlight to slow-motion daydreaming sequences, Villeneuve really created a work of art with this film and I definitely want to see more of his work after watching this. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of sci-fi, or anyone who just wants to watch 2 hours and 30 minutes of beautifully shot scenes with fantastic acting. It really is something special, even if you have never had the chance to read the books.