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Back in the day, the two big counterculture sci-fi novels were the libertarian-division Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, which made the word “grok” a thing for many years (not so much anymore; hardly even pops up in crossword puzzles today) and Frank Herbert ’s 1965 Dune , a futuristic geopolitical allegory that was anti-corporate, pro-eco-radicalism, and Islamophilic. Why mega-producers and mega-corporations have been pursuing the ideal film adaptation of this piece of intellectual property for so many decades is a question beyond the purview of this review, but it’s an interesting one.

As a pretentious teenager in the 1970s, I didn’t read much sci-fi, even countercultural sci-fi, so Dune missed me. When David Lynch ’s 1984 film of the novel, backed by then mega-producer Dino De Laurentiis , came out I didn’t read it either. As a pretentious twentysomething film buff, not yet professional grade, the only thing that mattered to me was that it was a Lynch picture. But for some reason—due diligence, or curiosity about how my life might have been different had I gone with Herbert and Heinlein rather than Nabokov and Genet back in the day—I read Herbert’s book recently. Yeah, the prose is clunky and the dialogue often clunkier, but I liked much of it, particularly the way it threaded its social commentary with enough scenes of action and cliff-hanging suspense to fill an old-time serial.

The new film adaptation of the book, directed by Denis Villeneuve from a script he wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts , visualizes those scenes magnificently. As many of you are aware, “Dune” is set in the very distant future, in which humanity has evolved in many scientific respects and mutated in a lot of spiritual ones. Wherever Earth was, the people in this scenario aren’t on it, and the imperial family of Atreides is, in a power play we don’t become entirely conversant with for a while, tasked with ruling the desert planet of Arrakis. Which yields something called “the spice”—that’s crude oil for you eco-allegorists in the audience—and presents multivalent perils for off-worlders (that’s Westerners for you geo-political allegorists in the audience).

To say I have not admired Villeneuve’s prior films is something of an understatement. But I can’t deny that he’s made a more-than-satisfactory movie of the book. Or, I should say, two-thirds of the book. (The filmmaker says it’s half but I believe my estimate is correct.) The opening title calls it “Dune Part 1” and while this two-and-a-half hour movie provides a bonafide epic experience, it's not coy about connoting that there’s more to the story. Herbert’s own vision corresponds to Villeneuve’s own storytelling affinities to the extent that he apparently did not feel compelled to graft his own ideas to this work. And while Villeneuve has been and likely remains one of the most humorless filmmakers alive, the novel wasn’t a barrel of laughs either, and it’s salutary that Villeneuve honored the scant light notes in the script, which I suspect came from Roth.

Throughout, the filmmaker, working with amazing technicians including cinematographer Greig Fraser , editor Joe Walker , and production designer Patrice Vermette , manages to walk the thin line between grandeur and pomposity in between such unabashed thrill-generating sequences as the Gom Jabbar test, the spice herder rescue, the thopter-in-a-storm nail-biter, and various sandworm encounters and attacks. If you’re not a “Dune” person these listings sound like gibberish, and you will read other reviews complaining about how hard to follow this is. It’s not, if you pay attention, and the script does a good job with exposition without making it seem like EXPOSITION. Most of the time, anyway. But, by the same token, there may not be any reason for you to be interested in “Dune” if you’re not a science-fiction-movie person anyway. The novel’s influence is huge, particularly with respect to George Lucas . DESERT PLANET, people. The higher mystics in the “Dune” universe have this little thing they call “The Voice” that eventually became “Jedi Mind Tricks.” And so on.

Villeneuve’s massive cast embodies Herbert’s characters, who are generally speaking more archetypes than individuals, very well. Timothée Chalamet leans heavily on callowness in his early portrayal of Paul Atreides, and shakes it off compellingly as his character realizes his power and understands how to Follow His Destiny. Oscar Isaac is noble as Paul’s dad the Duke; Rebecca Ferguson both enigmatic and fierce as Jessica, Paul’s mother. Zendaya is an apt, a better than apt, Chani. In a deviation from Herbert’s novel, the ecologist Kynes is gender-switched, and played with intimidating force by Sharon Duncan-Brewster . And so on.

A little while back, complaining about the Warner Media deal that’s going to put “Dune” on streaming at the same time as it plays theaters, Villeneuve said the movie had been made “as a tribute to the big-screen experience.” At the time, that struck me as a pretty dumb reason to make a movie. Having seen “Dune,” I understand better what he meant, and I kind of approve. The movie is rife with cinematic allusions, mostly to pictures in the tradition of High Cinematic Spectacle. There’s “ Lawrence of Arabia ,” of course, because desert. But there’s also “ Apocalypse Now ” in the scene introducing Stellan Skarsgård ’s bald-as-an-egg Baron Harkonnen. There’s “ 2001: A Space Odyssey .” There are even arguable outliers but undeniable classics such as Hitchcock’s 1957 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and Antonioni’s “Red Desert.” Hans Zimmer ’s let’s-test-those-subwoofers score evokes Christopher Nolan . (His music also nods to Maurice Jarre ’s “Lawrence” score and György Ligeti’s “Atmospheres” from “2001.”) But there are visual echoes of Nolan and of Ridley Scott as well.

These will tickle or infuriate certain cinephiles dependent on their immediate mood or general inclination. I thought them diverting. And they didn’t detract from the movie’s main brief. I’ll always love Lynch’s “Dune,” a severely compromised dream-work that (not surprising given Lynch’s own inclination) had little use for Herbert’s messaging. But Villeneuve’s movie is “Dune.”

Opens in theaters on October 22nd, available on HBO Max the same day. This review was filed on September 3rd in conjunction with the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Dune (2021)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing images and suggestive material.

155 minutes

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides

Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica

Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides

Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck

Zendaya as Chani

Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Dave Bautista as Beast Rabban

Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Liet Kynes

Stephen Henderson as Thufir Hawat

Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh

David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries

Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam

Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho

Javier Bardem as Stilgar

Golda Rosheuvel as Shadout Mapes

Denis Villeneuve

Writer (based on the novel written by)

Frank Herbert
Jon Spaihts

Cinematographer

Greig Fraser
Hans Zimmer

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Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Oscar Isaac, Timothée Chalamet, and Zendaya in Dune (2021)

A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.

Denis Villeneuve
Jon Spaihts
Timothée Chalamet
Rebecca Ferguson
5.9K User reviews
541 Critic reviews
74 Metascore
174 wins & 294 nominations total

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Paul Atreides

Lady Jessica Atreides

Duke Leto Atreides

Duncan Idaho

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Thufir Hawat

Gurney Halleck

Dr. Liet Kynes

Dr. Wellington Yueh

Glossu Rabban Harkonnen

Piter de Vries

Reverend Mother Mohiam

Herald of the Change
(as Benjamin Clementine)

Bene Gesserit Sister

Shadout Mapes
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Trivia Denis Villeneuve confirmed in a Vanity Fair article that his adaptation of Dune will be split into two films in order to ensure that the original story would be "preserved and not cut into a million pieces." However, contrary to the common practice of filming several installments back to back, only the first movie (which roughly covers the first half of the source novel) was greenlit and produced, with an optional sequel depending on how well the first film performed. A sequel was greenlit on the Tuesday after the film opened. According to production designer Patrice Vermette , the movie was originally supposed to end later in the story, but during pre-production, these final scenes were shifted to the sequel, meaning that some of the preparation for Dune: Part Two (2024) had already been done.
Goofs Despite several mentions of the intensity of the sun on Arrakis, no character ever wears any eye protection.

Lady Jessica Atreides : I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings obliteration. I will face my fear and I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past... I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Crazy credits At the start of the film, a Sardaukar priest chants "Dreams are messages from the deep" as a prologue as it is subtitled onscreen.
Connections Featured in Black and White Sports Too: Dune Trailer Reaction! Official 2020 - Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin (2020)
Soundtracks Tooth of Shai Hulud Performed by Czarina Russell Written and Produced by Theo Green

User reviews 5.9K

Brukernavn03
Sep 15, 2021
How long is Dune? Powered by Alexa
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October 22, 2021 (United States)
United States
Official site
Official Site (Japan)
Hành Tinh Cát
Wadi Rum, Jordan (Arrakis desert)
Warner Bros.
Legendary Entertainment
Villeneuve Films
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$165,000,000 (estimated)
$108,897,830
$41,011,174
Oct 24, 2021
$407,573,628

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Runtime 2 hours 35 minutes
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Watch Dune with a subscription on Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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This truncated adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi masterwork is too dry to work as grand entertainment, but David Lynch's flair for the surreal gives it some spice.

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Dune review: Denis Villeneuve's starry sci-fi epic is breathtaking, and a little bit maddening

Earlier this summer, director Denis Villeneuve made news for insisting that watching Dune on television would be like "driv[ing] a speedboat in your bathtub." To some people, it sounded like the petty grievances of an out-of-touch auteur — or worse, a fundamental misunderstanding of the way post-pandemic Hollywood operates: any which way it can.

All that might be true, but it doesn't mean he's wrong. In fact Villeneuve's new adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic 1965 novel is exactly the kind of lush, lofty filmmaking wide screens were made for; a sensory experience so opulent and overwhelming it begs to be seen big, or not at all. That the movie (which premiered Friday at the Venice Film Festival, ahead of a theatrical and HBO Max release Oct. 22) seems to have room for only half the story — and that its emotional palate is considerably more limited than its artistic one — feels relative in many ways to the fandom. If you're already knee-deep in Herbert mythology, you'll thrill to every whispered word; if you come in not knowing the difference between a Holtzman shield and a hole in the floor, it's a longer walk.

The introduction, in any case, wastes little time on exposition: The year is 10191 and Duke Leto Atreides ( Oscar Isaac ) has come with his longtime concubine, Lady Jessica ( Rebecca Ferguson ) and their grown son, Paul ( Timothée Chalamet ), to oversee the colonized planet of Arrakis — a harsh, arid place whose lone prized export is a shimmery dust called Spice. The natives who manage to scrape out a subsistence living farming it there are known as Fremens, their Listerine-blue eyes and Mad Max -style compounds necessary adaptations to the unforgiving climate.

Paul is soon visited by dreams of one Fre-woman in particular, Chani ( Zendaya ), disturbing visions that come to him unreliably and often without context but seem to portend real future events. To Lady Jessica, a member of an ancient all-female order known as the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, it's further proof that her child may in fact be the one chosen to save them all — centuries of selective eugenics finally come to bear in the body of a boy whose gender just happens to be wrong, or at least not what the Sisterhood planned for.

She's not the only one to take note of his particular gifts: The leader of Atreides' born enemy, the slug-bodied Baron Vladimir Harkonnen ( Stellan Skarsgård ) feels the ripple of his presence and the Fremens do too — even if loyal foot soldiers of his father's, including Josh Brolin 's taciturn weapons master Gurney Halleck and Jason Momoa 's cheerful warrior Duncan Idaho, continue to treat him like an essential if ordinary heir, to be trained and mentored and kept safe in the line of succession.

There are, you may have already sensed, no small actors in Dune , even in small parts: a veiled, imperious Charlotte Rampling as the Mother Superior who puts Paul to a memorable test; Javier Bardem as a terse Fremen chieftan; Dave Bautista as the Baron's brooding bull-necked nephew. Zendaya's Chani, who appears far more verbal in the trailer than she does in the actual film, moves through most of it as a sort of teasing apparition, less fully fleshed character than elusive spirit guide-slash-dream-key to Paul's destiny.

To be fair, it's hard to imagine a mortal movie star who wouldn't be dwarfed by the exquisite, elaborate world-building happening on screen. As he proved on projects like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 , Villeneuve's gift for visual storytelling can be genuinely breathtaking — vast desertscapes unscrolling like oceans and helicopters with dragonfly-wing blades where the rotors should be; the kidney-piercing resonance of Hans Zimmer's soundtrack poured over sets of towering, planet-scaled enormity. (Speculation that Dune 's M.O. would be " Star Wars , but make it fashion" is not completely off-base.) If anything falls short of Herbert's particular vision it's the movie's sandworms, who for all their faceless foreboding mostly register as super-size CG tubes; colossal, unwieldy vacuum-cleaner attachments gone rogue.

Dune is so aesthetically rich and monolithic that a few brief, misguided stabs at Marvel-style humor early on feel almost like blasphemy. The script seems to know it and soon settles into a kind of grim grandeur, each turn a building block to nothing less than the interstellar fate of the free world. Chalamet aptly channels the ethereal beauty and conflicted psyche of a reluctant savior, his troubled, tender Paul a sort of sci-fi Hamlet forced by fate and circumstance to bear the full weight of history, and Isaacs' Duke is both a noble warrior and a father so lovingly supportive he belongs in the Call Me By Your Name dad hall of fame . At some point, it is virtually guaranteed that they and nearly everyone else on screen will appear in a visual tableau worth gasping over.

The sheer awesomeness of Villeneuve's execution — there might not be another film this year, or ever, that turns one character asking another for a glass of water into a kind of walloping psychedelic performance art — often obscures the fact that the plot is mostly prologue: a sprawling origin story with no fixed beginning or end. (The director has said that he only agreed to take on the project if the studio let him split Dune 's narrative into two parts, and that he's still "very optimistic" the second will get made.) Minus the fuller context that Herbert's extended universe and dense mythology provides, the meaning of it all feels both endlessly beguiling and just out of reach: a dazzling high-toned space opera written on sand. Grade: B

Denis Villeneuve’s Take on Dune Is an Admirably Understated Sci-Fi Spectacle

T o call Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction extravaganza Dune a good example of its type of thing is probably damning it with fainter praise than it deserves. As someone who has zero interest in most books beloved by proselytizing, glassy-eyed dudes of the 1970s and 1980s, I always figured I could never be a Dune person. But I sort of enjoyed Villeneuve’s Dune —premiering out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and opening in the United States later this fall —and though it’s hard to say if serious Dune dudes will approve, what Villeneuve has put onscreen proves, at the very least, that he respects the source material to just the right degree. He neither genuflects to it nor tries to tart it up as a flashy, self-satisfied blockbuster flimflam. As movie spectacles go, it’s admirably understated: What can you say about a movie that makes the absolute most of sand?

Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel has long been considered unfilmable: Chilean-French filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky tried, unsuccessfully, to tackle it in the 1970s, and David Lynch’s 1984 version was widely viewed as a disappointment. Admittedly, Villeneuve ( Arrival , Blade Runner 2049 ) has a bunch of modern filmmaking tools available to him that those filmmakers didn’t, but at least he makes good use of them. The story is set in the year 10191, on a dry desert planet, Arrakis, that’s rich in “spice,” a substance needed for interplanetary travel. The planet’s longtime inhabitants are the Fremen, desert people who have found ways to survive in a harsh environment—one of their mysterious and dignified denizens, Chani ( Zendaya ), shimmers into view in a series of dream sequences, before materializing in real life.

For the Fremen, spice is a consciousness-enhancing substance, and they value it dearly. But other inhabitants of their interplanetary network think nothing of harvesting all the spice they want, giving the Fremen people nothing in return. ( Dune, in case you haven’t guessed, is heavy with geopolitical and religious symbolism of all sorts.) The emperor of all the planets puts the head of a noble family, Duke Leto Atreides ( Oscar Isaac , in a woolly gray beard), in charge of Arrakis. Atreides intends to be fair and benevolent. But when he moves to this unwelcoming, parched planet with his concubine, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and his teenage son, Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ), it becomes clear the emperor has drawn him into a web of deceit.

Lots of stuff happens in Dune, and this is only part one. (Villeneuve has expressed confidence that he’ll be able to finish the story in a second installment.) There are many scenes of flying vehicles buzzing about like iron dragonflies. Warriors go to battle with shimmery swords, their skin sizzling when they’re struck or wounded. Little mechanical bugs can shoot right into your skin and immobilize you before killing you, slowly. Jessica, one of the movie’s most compelling and enigmatic characters, is a member of an all-woman secret society with mystical powers. At one point, that group’s mother superior, played by Charlotte Rampling in a black beaded nun’s veil, tests young Paul’s fortitude by forcing him to stick his hand into a nasty box of pain, a gizmo the size of a box of tissues. His suffering is intense, and the anguish shows on his little acorn face—but then he gets used to it, and suddenly it’s no biggie. Previously skeptical mother superior has to admit to Jessica, the anxious mom, that this lackadaisical teenager just might have special powers of his own—but the jury is still out.

Because, of course, Dune is largely a story about a young man proving himself. Villeneuve presents this tale as an unapologetically poker-faced futuristic parable. There are characters with names like Duncan Idaho (who happens to be played, charmingly, by Jason Momoa), and everyone is waiting for someone known as the Kwisatz Haderach to show up. Villeneuve lays it out before us without smirking or winking; his go-for-broke earnestness feels honest and clean. And the effects, while lavish, also have a tasteful, polished quality. Particularly impressive is the massive Arrakis predator known as the sandworm, a fearsome creature that first makes its presence known as a giant ripple of action beneath the sand, before poking its lamprey-like head aboveground to sweep its prey—machinery, people, whatever—into its toothy gob. The sandworm is the stuff of nightmares, but Villeneuve’s vision of it has a shivery elegance. Dune is sluggish in places—my eyes glazed over during one or two or maybe three of the battle scenes—but Villeneuve’s conviction counts for a lot. I would probably sit through Dune Part Deux willingly—though Herbert’s book, I’m afraid, will remain forever unread.

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"Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong" About... Dune (Both of Them)

Denis villeneuve's adaptation of frank herbert's novel was as epic as its sandworms, but is it a spicy take to say david lynch's infamous 1984 version maybe isn't quite the cinematic tragedy we all remember it to be.

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures courtesy Everett Collection, Chiabella James/©Warner Bros.)

Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel Dune , a sprawling tale of warring families on distant planets, has been widely regarded as “unfilmable,” but that didn’t stop people from trying to get it made into a movie several times . After the success of Star Wars , producer Dino de Laurentis was eager to churn out an epic space opera of his own, so he (eventually) knocked on David Lynch’s door, gave him $40 million (the largest film budget ever at the time), and we got 1984’s Dune . That film was a notorious critical failure (44% on the Tomatometer) and box office flop, and it was the only movie version of the novel we had until Denis Villeneuve, a lifelong fan of the novel, said, “Lemme give it a go.”

Villeneuve’s Dune — just Part One of Two — debuted in late 2021 in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service, earning a Certified Fresh 83% Tomatometer against a 90% Audience Score, and it’s currently up for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, though Villeneuve’s absence from the Best Director category is widely considered a noteworthy snub. Packed with A-list talent on screen and guided by Villeneuve’s steady directorial hand, the film largely lived up to its near-impossible-to-meet expectations for most fans.

On the other hand, dissatisfied with rampant studio interference on the film, David Lynch famously disowned the earlier Dune after its release, so much so that he even insisted his name be removed from various subsequent edits of it. Despite that, it has gone on to inspire a cult following of fans who dig its challenging themes and bizarre but distinctly Lynchian idiosyncrasies. Of course, there are still plenty of folks who loved the original novel who found Lynch’s version unsatisfactory, perplexing, and downright goofy, but it’s far more interesting to hear what the die-hard fans of Dune ’84 actually like about it.

And now that Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the first half of the novel has been deemed a smashing success, it’s a great time not only to reexamine Lynch’s earlier work, but to compare it against Villeneuve’s and get to the bottom of what worked and what didn’t… in both films. It may be true that there are fewer quibbles with Villeneuve’s Dune than there are positive ways to spin Lynch’s version, but there is a lot of story to cover, and our guest this week has thoughts on all of it.

Joining regular co-hosts Jacqueline Coley and Mark Ellis is one Alex Pappademas, host of The Big Hit Show podcast and author of the upcoming book Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant – The Movies and Meaning of an Irrepressible Icon . Alex notes that, when Lynch’s Dune came out, it was, as Dino de Laurentis intended, marketed to kids, complete with a toy line and children’s books. He remembers getting the Dune storybook as a 7-year-old and being subsequently baffled and traumatized by the film, only to rewatch it later as a David Lynch fan and find new ways to appreciate it as a very Lynchian concoction. Both he and Mark feel the Tomatometer score for Lynch’s Dune should be much higher, while Jacqueline wholeheartedly disagrees. And after digging into the earlier Dune , the three dive into Villeneuve’s film to nail down why it worked so much better.

Check in every Thursday for a new episode of Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong (A Podcast From Rotten Tomatoes) . Each week, hosts Jacqueline and Mark and guests go deep and settle the score on some of the most beloved – and despised – movies and TV shows ever made, directly taking on the statement we hear from so many fans: “Rotten Tomatoes is wrong.”

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‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: Bigger, Wormier and Way Far Out

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya make an appealing pair in Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up film, and the actors fit together with tangible ease.

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In a sci-fi-looking scene set in the desert, Zendaya holds a gloved hand to Timothée Chalamet’s cheek.

By Manohla Dargis

Having gone big in “Dune,” his 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s futuristic opus, the director Denis Villeneuve has gone bigger and more far out in the follow up. Set in the aftermath of the first movie, the sequel resumes the story boldly, delivering visions both phantasmagoric and familiar. Like Timothée Chalamet’s dashingly coifed hero — who steers monstrous sandworms over the desert like a charioteer — Villeneuve puts on a great show. The art of cinematic spectacle is alive and rocking in “Dune: Part Two,” and it’s a blast.

It’s a surprisingly nimble moonshot, even with all its gloom and doom and brutality. Big-screen enterprises, particularly those adapted from books with a huge, fiercely loyal readership, often have a ponderousness built in to every image. In some, you can feel the enormous effort it takes as filmmakers try to turn reams of pages into moving images that have commensurate life, artistry and pop on the screen. Adaptations can be especially deadly when moviemakers are too precious with the source material; they’re torpedoed by fealty.

“Dune” made it clear that Villeneuve isn’t that kind of textualist. As he did in the original , he has again taken plentiful liberties with Herbert’s behemoth (one hardcover edition runs 528 pages) to make “Part Two,” which he wrote with the returning Jon Spaihts. Characters, subplots and volumes of dialogue (interior and otherwise) have again been reduced or excised altogether. (I was sorry that the great character actor Stephen McKinley Henderson, who played an eerie adviser in the first movie, didn’t make the cut here.) The story — its trajectory, protagonist and concerns — remains recognizable yet also different.

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“Dune” turns on Paul Atreides (Chalamet), an aristocrat who becomes a guerrilla and crusader, and whose destiny weighs as heavily on him as any crown. In adapting “Dune,” Villeneuve effectively cleaved Herbert’s novel in half. (Herbert wrote six “Dune” books, a series that has morphed into a multimedia franchise since his death in 1986.) The first part makes introductions and sketches in Paul’s back story as the beloved only son of a duke, Leto (Oscar Isaac), and his concubine, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). When it opens, the royals, on orders from the universe’s emperor, are preparing to vacate their home planet, a watery world called Caladan, to the parched planet of Arrakis, a.k.a. Dune.

The move to Arrakis goes catastrophically wrong; many members of House Atreides are murdered by their enemies, most notably the pallid, villainous House Harkonnen, and Paul’s father dies. Paul and the Lady Jessica escape into the desert where — after much side-eyeing and muttering along with one of those climactic mano-a-mano duels that turn fictional boys into men — they find uneasy allies in a group of Fremen, the planet’s Indigenous population. A tribal people who have adapted to Dune’s harsh conditions with clever survival tactics, like form-fitting suits that conserve bodily moisture, the Fremen are scattered across the planet under the emperor’s rule. Some fight to be free; many pray for a messiah.

“Part Two” opens with Paul and his mother hunkered down in the desert, hiding behind a sandy crest amid a company of Fremen warriors. Among these are Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Javier Bardem), who personify the Fremen’s divergent ideas about liberation. Stilgar is a man of faith who, not long into the sequel, starts to believe that Paul is the Fremen messiah. This requires Bardem to keep repeating variations of the same true-believer line (basically, Paul is the one!), which he does with expressive, at times humorous animation. Chani, who in turn believes that a Fremen must lead them to freedom, initially views Paul with enough knitted-brow skepticism to give their inevitable romance a little frisson.

Chalamet and Zendaya make an appealing duo, and the two performers fit together with tangible ease as their characters grow close. Both actors are fun to look at, and every bit as watchable and glamorous as old-fashioned Hollywood stars (I kept wondering what product he uses to tame his curls), which is amusing but makes sense for their outsize roles. Chalamet and Zendaya tend to overwork their glowers and puppy eyes in their less chatty scenes (the desert quiet can make loose talk deadly), but together they humanize the story, giving it the necessary personal stakes and a warmth that helps balance the chilling violence.

Herbert’s novel is a great juicy slab of a book, a meticulously detailed and enjoyably engrossing fantasy about belief and doubt, survival and struggle, idealism and nihilism. Herbert was a worldbuilder par excellence and he drew from an astonishment of references to create a fantastical realm. The results are unusual enough to inspire curiosity and, at times, a sense of wonder, even as the story retains a connection to the reality outside its pages. It’s a dense palimpsest, with influences ranging from Greek mythology to Shakespearean tragedy and Jungian psychology. Time and again, especially in its representations of a hostile environment and religious fanaticism, it can also seem like a warning to the present day.

Villeneuve’s approach in adapting the novel is, effectively, one of judicious distillation. Like the first movie, “Part Two” advances the plot fluently (it’s easy to follow), through both dialogue and action sequences that are true to the spirit of the book, its overarching narrative arc, vibe and weirdness. The dialogue sounds natural, even when characters are throwing around names like the Bene Gesserit, the misterioso religious sorority that assumes greater prominence in “Part Two.” As crucially, the action sequences don’t stop the movie dead or make the rest of it seem irrelevant. Mainstream adventure films often toggle between expository and action sequences with wearyingly predictability; here, everything flows.

“Dune” is finally a war story, like many contemporary screen spectacles, and it isn’t long into “Part Two” before bodies begin to fall. In the swiftly paced opener, Harkonnen soldiers, led by a bald shouter called the Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista), descend to the desert floor from their flying machines. Wearing bulky uniforms that make them seem as lumbering as old-school deep-sea divers, the soldiers seem too ungainly to take on the Fremen, agile fighters with parkour moves and billy goat balance. Villeneuve is good at surprises, though, and he knows how to marshal contrasts — light and dark, immensity and puniness — to create interest and tension. Soon enough the Harkonnen are rapidly jetpacking through the air, and it’s on.

“Part Two” moves with comparable dexterity despite all the weightiness, the byzantine complexities and knotty conspiracies shared among different factions. The sequel brings back a number of familiar faces, including Josh Brolin as the Atreides loyalist Gurney Halleck and Stellan Skarsgard as the monstrous Baron. The leader of House Harkonnen, the Baron spends much of his time killing his minions or marinating his often-bared, massively spherical body in a tub of what looks like crude oil. Rabban, his inept nephew, is soon overshadowed by the most striking addition to the “Dune” detachment, another nephew, Feyd-Rautha, a malignancy played by an unrecognizable, utterly creepy Austin Butler.

As spectrally white and seemingly hairless as his uncle, Feyd-Rautha looks like a bulked-up worm. He’s a warrior and every bit as wicked as his uncle. Yet he isn’t the usual sexed-up antihero despite the curves of Butler’s muscles and his sensual pout, and the character remains a disturbing narrative question mark. Feyd-Rautha becomes Paul’s challenger, but he also serves as a counterpart to the huge sandworms that travel beneath Arrakis’s surface and produce the planet’s invaluable natural resource, known as melange or spice. As crucial as petroleum, as addictive as smack, spice sparkles like pixie dust, alters minds, turns eyes vivid blue but mostly it keeps this universe running — and violently churning.

Our world is never far from that of “Dune,” with its cruelty, greed, fearmongering, sectarian divisions, battle cries and power plays. (The sandworms by contrast are wonderfully otherworldly; they’re fantastic creatures with long meaty bodies and bristly, baleenlike maws, which make for a fearsome if playful confusion of mammalian, slightly gendered images.) Part of the story’s potency is its familiarity. Like Herbert, Villeneuve has tapped assorted influences to create the world of “Dune,” drawing from myths, westerns, war films and so on. There’s even a nod to David Lynch , who directed the 1984 “Dune,” though the obvious touchstone is David Lean’s 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia,” with its own blue-eyed hero.

Lean’s movie is based on the life of T.E. Lawrence, who played a role in the Arab Revolt of 1916, in which British-backed Arab forces expelled the Ottomans from parts of the Middle East. That film, with its white savior and the anguished colonialist history it evokes, hangs over “Dune” provocatively. For all the challenges that Villeneuve has faced in adapting the novel to the screen none have seemed more insurmountable than remaining faithful to the complexity of Herbert’s Paul Atreides, whose power is less than triumphant. Disturbed by his mother’s ambitions and haunted by apocalyptic visions, Paul remains as unsure of his destiny as you are. Don’t expect many answers by the end of “Part Two” — as I said, Herbert wrote five additional books — though, like me, you may want to put your money on Zendaya.

Dune: Part Two Rated PG-13 for warfare and worms. Running time: 2 hours 46 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic of The Times, which she joined in 2004. She has an M.A. in cinema studies from New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. More about Manohla Dargis

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'Dune': A sweeping, spectacular spice-opera — half of one, anyway

Glen Weldon

Paul (Timothee Chalamet) and the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling) regard each other warily in DUNE. Warner Bros. hide caption

Paul (Timothee Chalamet) and the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling) regard each other warily in DUNE.

Most of us who've read Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune have experienced it in the form of mass-market paperbacks so thick and dense they could double as wheel chocks for a Cessna. If you've made it all the way through even once, the spine on your personal copy will have been battered into submission such that it takes on the appearance of the Bonneville salt flats — rough, faded, riddled with spidery cracks.

This has less to do with any degree of ardor you may or may not have brought to your experience of reading the book, and everything to do with the sheer number of times you found yourself shuttling back and forth and back again between your current place in the proceedings and Herbert's extensive glossary in the back.

The world of Herbert's novel is made up of many worlds, many ruling galactic Houses, many competing infrastructural interests working to seize power through means both overt and skullduggerous, to say nothing of the thousands of years of interstellar intrigue and bloodshed that take place before the book opens.

And , of course , all of those planets, Houses, institutions and historical events have names — names that Herbert drops often and with a kind of blithe ferocity. Those drops soon become a firehose-torrent of exotic names, italicized terms and inscrutable acronyms. (" CHOAM!!?? " I distinctly recall 10-year-old me thinking to himself in dismay, before resigning himself to yet another trip to the back of the book. "I was really making headway there for second, then boom: goddamn CHOAM .")

CHOAM stands for Combine Honnette Ober Advancer Mercantiles, by the way. I sense your relieved comprehension; you may now go about your day.

That density of reference and cross-reference is, of course, a contributing factor to the novel's enduring appeal — the sense that Herbert did the hard work to fully imagine both his characters and the forces that shape them, and place them into the deeply stratified society of the worlds he depicts. It's also a major reason why efforts to adapt the novel, and its sequels, have confounded directors from Alejandro Jodorowsky (whose aborted attempt is the subject of the excellent, if unimaginatively named, documentary Jodorowsky's Dune ), to David Lynch ( who actually made a deeply idiosyncratic and profoundly muddled film version in 1984 ), to John Harrison's straightforward yet undercooked 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries.

Spice World (2021)

Any successful adaptation of Dune must strike a fine balance, nodding toward Herbert's densely interwoven galactic network of competing and overlapping interests without letting all those voices subsume the surprisingly clear, even archetypal, reluctant-hero narrative at the work's center.

Any adaption attempted today must also deal with something no previous version has had to address as directly: our growing, long-overdue contemporary cultural skepticism towards Chosen One narratives, particularly those of the White Savior variety.

Movie Interviews

Doomed 'dune' was generations ahead of its time.

Make no mistake: Dune is a Chosen One narrative writ galactic — a White Savior story on an epic, sweeping scale. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet, who spends much of the first hour or so of the film brooding Byronically in long frock coats on windswept promontories overlooking the sea) has been genetically engineered to be a leader known as the kwisatz haderach. (Yep, an italicized term already, in the first sentence of the premise description; if that concerns you at all, this movie will not be your jam.)

His father, Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), have been tasked with taking over the desert planet Arrakis (aka Dune, keep up), the sole source of a mind-altering spice that makes interstellar travel possible. They are taking the planet over from the vile Harkonnens, a House led by an evil Baron named, it may not surprise you to learn, Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgard, getting a second use out of his Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again fat suit). During its reign over Arrakis, the House has cruelly dealt with the planet's indigenous population, known as the Fremen — humans perfectly adapted to harsh desert life.

Paul keeps having gauzy, prophetic dreams featuring a Fremen named Chani (Zendaya) that director Denis Villeneuve shoots as if they're the world's most arid Dior commercials. Over the course of the film, young Paul starts to come into his power, reluctantly realizing that he may in fact be the subject of not one but two prophecies — the powerful kwisatch haderach forseen by the shadowy space-witches known as the Bene Gesserit, and the religious savior called the Mahdi by the Fremen.

It will be useful, at this point, to divide this review into two parts, aimed at two different audiences. First up:

If you know nothing about Dune — you haven't read the books or seen any previous adaptation:

Hello! You, who don't know a Sardaukar from a Shai-hulud , who couldn't pick the Shadout Mapes out of lineup of Shadouts, are in for a treat. Villeneuve has made a grand, epic film that features the kind of action and spectacle you're likely expecting — but he hasn't let the sheer staggering scope of the endeavor sway him from his penchant for moody introspection. As he did in Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 , he works in the genre of science fiction but lets his camera linger on his characters' expressions and body language, grounding viewers in the realm of human emotion even as massive spaceships explode and giant sandworms roar behind them.

His screenplay distills Herbert's hilariously dense network of galactic institutions down to the major players. You'll miss some nuance, maybe, but that's why God made wikis for you to consult on the way home from the theater. The film also, importantly, contemporizes the book's stilted dialogue, and in so doing willingly trades any sense of mythic portentousness for something looser and more alive.

You'll catch visual shout-outs to Apocalypse Now and Lawrence of Arabia , among many other films, and Greig Fraser's cinematography will dazzle you with its sense of immensity and emptiness. You'll think the film drags a bit in the middle, and that it ends on a weirdly anti-climactic note, and you'll wonder why the promotional material featured Zendaya so much, when she gets only a handful of lines at the very end. You'll be very right on all scores — this is only the first half of the story, after all.

Okay, that's done. Now for the rest of you.

PG-13: Risky Reads

Reading 'dune,' my junior-high survival guide, if you've done dune — you've read a book or six, and/or know and love david lynch's hot mess of a film from 1984:.

First and most important thing you should know: The film ends soon after Paul first meets up with Sietch Tabr.

Knowing that bit of information will save you a lot of concern and confusion, trust me. If you know the story in full, you'll watch each scene unfold, idly (and later on, not-so-idly) wondering how far this massive, stately ocean-liner of a film can possibly get before ending. That's because Villeneuve's pacing is never anything less than even and deliberate — you'll feel each story beat landing, one after the other, in unhurried succession.

You will likely admire the efficiency with which the screenplay trots out this or that bit of Herbertian lore. And while Villeneuve's judiciously steady, even-keel approach may make you may miss Lynch's idiosyncratic, subconscious, quasi-Jungian riffing on the source text ("The toooooooth!") , you certainly won't miss the 1984 film's relentless, inescapable voiceover.

Knowing in advance exactly where Villeneuve chooses to end Dune: Part One will help you relax into the storytelling and the spectacle of the thing. Yes, you'll maybe wince at those moments when the score busts out a call-to-prayer as Paul performs some quasi-mystical feat — a choice that seems at once unearned and on the nose. And even a filmmaker as drawn to emotional nuance as Villeneuve could do much to turn the book's villain — the cartoonishly eeeeevil Baron Harkonnen — into anything but the one-note baddie he is.

But in moments big (a sandworm attack) and small (a quiet conversation between Isaac's melancholy Duke and Chalamet's sullen Paul), Dune plays itself out with an assured confidence that encourages you to settle in for the long (2 hours and 35 minutes!) haul — and eagerly (!) await Part Two.

Denis Villeneuve Changed the Fremen for the Better in ‘Dune: Part Two’

It's all about that spice-fueled desert power.

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for 'Dune: Part Two'.

The Big Picture

Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two showcases divided Fremen factions - Northern Fremen are cautious of outsiders, while Southern Fremen hold radical religious beliefs.
The changes to the Fremen add depth, complexity, and conflict, enhancing the storytelling and setting up future plotlines in the Dune universe.
The Fremen are depicted as the true power of Arrakis, emphasizing the importance of their alliance in controlling the planet's destiny.

Taking a book to the screen is never an easy task, but sometimes it works just right. That's the case with Dune: Part Two , the second half of Denis Villeneuve 's adaptation of Frank Herbert 's seminal sci-fi novel. Changes always have to be made , but Villeneuve adjusted the story in such a seamless way, that some would argue it works even better in the movie than in the novel. That's the case with the Fremen, the native people of Arrakis who survive in its harsh weather and unforgiving desert. As Chani ( Zendaya ) and Stilgar ( Javier Bardem ) guide Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ) on the ways of the Fremen, they are revealed to be divided into two main factions, the Northern Fremen and the Southern Fremen . This is a major departure from how the Fremen are depicted in the novels — and for the best.

Dune: Part Two

Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.

The Northern Fremen Are More Cautious of Outsiders

At the end of the first Dune , Paul and Lady Jessica ( Rebecca Ferguson ) are forced into the desert after House Harkonnen decimates the remainder of House Atreides in the first Battle of Arrakeen. The capital city is located in the Northern Hemisphere, and they don't have to go far until they are found by the Fremen — the Northern Fremen. This faction lives closer to Arrakeen and, thus, closer to the political center of power on the planet — where the colonizers live. Every decision made on Arrakeen directly affects the Northern Fremen and disrupts their connection to the desert. This is why there are constant clashes between the Fremen and the imperial colonizers in the north, as native populations have every right to resist foreign occupation and exploration of their natural resources.

For this reason, in Part Two , Chani explains to Paul that the Northern Fremen are fewer in number and also more skeptical regarding spiritual matters. They have seen too much destruction and pillaging of their planet to maintain unshakable beliefs. They are weary of outsiders and make sure to let Paul and Lady Jessica know they are not welcome in Sietch Tabr at first, and only after some time are they both accepted as Fremen themselves. Especially among younger people, Northern Fremen are weary and doubtful of prophecies and are aware that these were mostly planted in their culture by the Bene Gesserit and their Reverend Mothers as part of their Missionaria Protectiva initiative and as a way of facilitating the colonizers' lives. Chani herself calls this out many times, even to Paul and Lady Jessica directly, saying "If you want to control people, show them a messiah," but, unfortunately, younger Fremen don't have much influence. Still, these younger groups are fierce in defending their people and are always focused on the collective good.

The only period in which the Fremen in the North lived in relative peace with the colonizers happened during the first Dune , when House Atreides tried to befriend them and even sent an envoy, master-of-arms Duncan Idaho ( Jason Momoa ), to learn more about them and make sure the Atreides could be their allies. Both before and after that, with Arrakis occupied by House Harkonnen, relations were hostile , the prime directive from Baron Vladimir Harkonnen ( Stellan Skarsgård ) to his nephews Rabban ( Dave Bautista ) and Feyd-Rautha ( Austin Butler ) being to exterminate the Fremen and extract as much spice as possible .

The Southern Fremen Hold Radical Religious Beliefs

After Feyd-Rautha is made the new leader of House Harkonnen in Arrakis, the conflict with the Fremen escalates and culminates in the destruction of Sietch Tabr. The remaining Fremen in the north are then forced to leave and join their southern peers . This is when the tide begins to turn in their favor, because Paul then manages to rally all Fremen in one place and speak directly to the most faithful of them. When this happens, he has already taken the Water of Life and has had visions of his sister Alia ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) warning him about the upcoming jihad. This all but confirms that he really is the savior of prophecy — or, as the Fremen call it, the Lisan al-Gaib.

While the Northern Fremen have to deal directly with the colonizers threatening them, the Southern Fremen have different challenges to their survival. The South of Arrakis is considered inhospitable by the Harkonnens, who don't even bother going that far down until Feyd-Rautha takes over. This is a mistaken preconception, however, and shows just how little the imperial colonizers bothered to learn about Arrakis. Not only are there Fremen living in the South, but they also number in the millions, which makes them the ultimate military power on the planet and one of the most formidable forces in the galaxy .

'Dune: Part Two's Most Underrated Scene Has a Deeper Meaning

In the South, the extreme weather means the heat is even deadlier than in the north, which is why the Southern Fremen spend most of their time in the Sietches underground. Under such harsh conditions, faith usually takes a central role in people's lives, and the prophecies of the Lisan al-Gaib have taken much deeper roots than in the north . Chani explains to Paul that Stilgar, the leader of the Fremen, may live in the north, but that, as he comes from the south, he is deeply religious and firmly believes in Paul as the savior of the prophecy. This faith is also seen in the other millions of Fremen in the South, and, when Paul shows them his power in the great meeting underground, they don't hesitate to follow him into battle against the Harkonnens and the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV ( Christopher Walken ) in Arrakeen. Their faith is so strong, that Paul knows he can't control them, and, after he ascends to the Golden Lion Throne, a jihad spreads like fire throughout the galaxy in his name.

The Changes to the Fremen in ‘Dune: Part Two’ Add a Depth to Them That Isn’t in the Novel

In the first Dune movie, Paul's father, Duke Leto Atreides ( Oscar Isaac ), talks about " desert power " as the best way to rule Arrakis. According to his thesis, the strength of Arrakis lies not only in its spice production but also in the native Fremen population and even its fauna, including the giant sandworms. This is why having the Fremen as allies is so important to control the planet, something that mindless violent people like the Harkonnens would never think of. Part Two confirms Leto's desert power thesis and reveals the Fremen are indeed the true power of Arrakis.

By splitting the Fremen into two factions, Denis Villeneuve shows that achieving desert power isn't easy. In the novel, the Fremen are largely homogeneous and live scattered around the desert or in Sietches, but dealing with Fremen in one place doesn't differ much from dealing with Fremen in another. From an anthropological perspective, it's highly unlikely that people who live scattered around a whole planet would all have the exact same beliefs and customs. In terms of storytelling, this change is not only plausible but also adds layers to the Fremen that aren't there in the novels . By giving the two Fremen factions different backgrounds, they have fundamentally different experiences with religion and prophecies , two elements that are at the core of their culture and can even lead to future conflict. Chani and Stilgar, for example, are on diametrically opposed sides in this sense, as she keeps her faith in Paul in check due to his being an outsider, while Stilgar fully embraces the prophecy.

This division in the Fremen is also helpful for the development of future Dune movies . In Dune Messiah , for example, Paul's rule as Emperor is contested many times, and some of his more diplomatic decisions to deal with this are taken by some Fremen as an offense, leading even to some conspiring against him . Later, in Children of Dune , a desert leader known as The Preacher shows up to try and undermine the rule of Paul's children, Leto II and Ghanima Atreides (any more than that could be experience-ruining spoilers!), and manages to sway a large portion of the Fremen to his cause.

Dune: Part Two is now available on Max in the U.S.

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The best horror movie of all time is a 16-year-old vampire chiller, according to rotten tomatoes.

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25 Best Horror Movies To Watch With Friends

20 best jump scare movies (& where to stream them), 10 classic horror movie rules that are still being followed today.

Rotten Tomatoes' list of best horror films raised controversy due to surprising choices like "Let The Right One In".
The film's unconventional vampire story stood out, making it an emotionally impactful and haunting experience.
While deserving recognition, "Let The Right One In" may not have had the same lasting impact as iconic horror classics.

Rotten Tomatoes' exhaustive and controversial list of the 300 best movies ever made has thrown up some interesting results in every genre – including when it comes to assessing the best horror movie of all time. The entire list is full of contentious decisions, with critics questioning the overall methodology, as well as the particular position of certain entries. However, while its overall accuracy is under question, the Rotten Tomatoes list does turn attention towards some less typically popular film choices – including in the horror movie category.

The criteria for a film to make Rotten Tomatoes' list combined a high critical score with a more opaque " recommendation formula ". According to the site, this involves " consider(ing) a movie’s Tomatometer rating with assistance from its Audience Score, illuminating beloved sentiment from both sides. " This process has produced some eyebrow-raising results – including crowning 1997 neo-noir L.A. Confidential as the greatest movie of all time . While this is a surprising call, given the caliber of the competition, the choice to name a 16-year-old vampire story as the best horror ever is perhaps even more disputable.

Horror fans looking to have a Halloween bingefest with friends should check out scary movies like The Blair Witch Project and Get Out.

Let The Right One In Is Rotten Tomatoes' Best Horror Movie

It has a 98% rating.

Despite some impressive competition from the entire history of horror cinema, Thomas Alfredson's 2008 gothic vampire film, Let The Right One In , ranks as the best horror film ever made – according to the Rotten Tomatoes list. The movie, which received critical acclaim on release and boasts a 98% positive review score, sits at number 39 on the list and is the first true horror film in the ranking. While other high entries, such as Hitchcock's Rear Window (number 15), incorporate horror elements, Let The Right One In stands apart as the highest out-and-out horror.

Let The RIght One In is available to stream on Fubo TV

Despite the movie's impressive critical score and assorted accolades (including a string of Best Foreign Language Film wins at a variety of American film festivals), Let The Right One In 's position is something of a surprise. The movie only made $11 million globally and its reputation took a while to build. In fact, many viewers might be more familiar with the 2010 remake Let Me In , which also received positive reviews and made $27 million at the box office. Nevertheless, by Rotten Tomatoes' reckoning, Let The Right One In has beaten out other, more high-profile movies to take the title.

Why Let The Right One In Is Rated So Highly

It's a bold reimagining of the vampire myth.

One of the reasons Let The Right One In received such positive reviews was its relatively unconventional approach to the classic vampire story . Instead of centering on an older, male, Dracula-like figure, the story revolves around two children – one; a lonely 12-year-old boy beset by bullies, and the other; a hauntingly strange girl with a terrifying secret. This setup, which follows the highly-rated source novel , breathes fresh life into a genre that all too often relies on tired stereotypes and over-the-top performances.

Just as the story lends itself to emotional subtlety and a complex meditation on loneliness and friendship, the filmmaking behind Let The Right One In is a masterclass in understatement. Incredibly bloody scenes are juxtaposed with the cold, quiet darkness, while the cinematography gives everything an eerie, ghost-like quality that makes even the most innocent scenes seem incredibly haunting. For this reason, it is a much more complex movie than many of its genre counterparts , while still successfully delivering some effective scares.

Horror movies that make the audience jump out of their seat are a fan favorite - and these scary flicks have mastered the jump scare.

How Let The Right One In Compares To Other Horror Movies

It ranks above some incredible films.

There's no doubt that Let The Right One In deserves to be recognized as a top horror film. Everything, from its artful storytelling to its memorable imagery, marks it out as an impressive achievement in a genre that is often underappreciated by mainstream critics. Despite this, however, it is still slightly surprising that Rotten Tomatoes has ranked it higher than other iconic horror movies .

The next highest-rated movie on the list, for example, is Alfred Hitchcock's legendary proto-slasher, Psycho . One of the most recognizable and influential movies ever made, Psycho (number 48) helped redefine what was possible in cinema , while providing a whole new template for horror filmmakers to follow. Let The Right One In is an impressive achievement , but it's still slightly surprising to see it come in ahead of the 1960 hit.

There are further surprises further down the list. Let The Right One In also beat out competition from the likes of Alien , The Silence of The Lambs , and Jaws – all of which have arguably had a more lasting impact on horror than Alfredson's film . Even another more contemporary horror, Jordan Peele's Get Out , made more of a lasting impact on the cultural zeitgeist. To have beaten such celebrated movies by any metric takes some doing, yet certainly comes as a surprise, considering their relative status.

Let The Right One In Isn't Really The Best Horror Movie Of All Time

Others have had a much bigger impact.

In many ways, the relative rankings of other iconic horror movies on Rotten Tomatoes' list highlights the problem with Let The Right One In 's position. For all its deserved recognition and commendable approach as a film, it is hard to argue that it has had the same impact on the horror genre – or even filmmaking as a collective industry – than projects like Alien or Psycho . Importance in the history of cinema is by no means the only metric to consider when weighing up a movie's merits. However, when deciding the greatest films ever made, it should factor into the equation.

Given horror's chronic underappreciation by much of mainstream cinema, it is perhaps befitting that Rotten Tomatoes 300 " Best Movies " list features relatively few horror films . It's also gratifying to see a movie as coldly beautiful and unconventional as Alfredson's get some much-deserved recognition over a decade after its release. However, despite Let The Right One In 's achievements and credentials, Rotten Tomatoes' list is a slight representation of where it sits in the history of horror movies .

Horror Movies

More From Forbes

Bradley cooper bust ‘burnt’ among movies new on netflix this week.

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GOOD MORNING AMERICA - Bradley Cooper talks about his days as a chef and his new film "Burnt" on ... [+] GOOD MORNING AMERICA, 10/20/15, airing on the Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Television Network. (Photo by Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Bradley Cooper’s movie bust Burnt and a 1984 sci-fi cult classic lead the slate of movies new on Netflix this week.

Unlike previous weeks in May, there are no new high-profile Netflix original films like Unfrosted , Mother of the Bride or Atlas on this week’s schedule.

Instead, a bunch of previously released films in theaters are making their debut on the streaming service, starting with an obscure Cooper film that attracted far less attention—and box office dollars—than most of his movies in the last 15 years including The Hangover , American Sniper and A Star is Born .

Here’s a look at Burnt and other movies coming to Netflix this week.

‘Burnt’ (2015)

Burnt stars Bradley Cooper as Adam Jones, a temperamental Michelin star-winning chef in Paris whose drug addiction leads to his downfall and ultimately an attempt at recovery and a career comeback.

Also starring Cooper’s American Sniper co-star Sienna Miller, Burnt —per Box Office Mojo —earned $36 million at the worldwide box office against a $20 million production budget before the film’s prints and advertising cost.

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In addition to the film’s tepid reception at the box office, Rotten Tomatoes critics burned Burnt with a 28% “rotten” rating based on 162 reviews. RT’s Audience Score was a little more favorable, with a neutral 45% rating based on 10,000-plus ratings by verified users.

Burnt makes its streaming debut on Netflix on Tuesday.

‘Dune’ (1984)

Long before director Denis Villeneuve brought his vision of Dune to life with the blockbuster two-part tale in 2021 and 2024, legendary director David Lynch tackled Frank Herbert’s classic novel from 1965 with an ambitious film 40 years prior .

Starring then-newcomer Kyle MacLachlan as the messianic hero Paul Atreides, Lynch’s Dune —unlike Villeneuve’s films—was stonewalled at the box office, with virtually all its $31 million tally coming domestic ticket sales.

With a production budget of $40 million—per Box Office Mojo—Dune was left in the dust-filled environs of the sand planet of Arrakis at the box office, but since has developed a cult following with viewers. Rotten Tomatoes critics haven’t warmed up to Lynch’s Dune , however, giving it a collective “rotten” rating of 37% based on 117 reviews.

Dune is new on Netflix on Saturday, June 1.

‘1917’ (2019)

American Beauty and Skyfall director Sam Mendes took the Birdman approach in telling this harrowing World War I tale about a pair of two British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) tasked with delivering a message to 1,600 troops that will prevent them from walking into an enemy ambush.

The camera acts as a third participant that follows the duo as they cross enemy lines including the unforgiving No-Man’s Land complete their mission. If successful, the mission will save the troops—including the brother of one of the two soldiers delivering the message.

Mendes’ 1917 was hailed by the movie industry as one of the best films of 2019. The film earned 10 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director nods for Mendes and won three Oscars including a Best Cinematography statuette for Roger Deakins.

The film was also a big success with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with BAFTA wins for Best Film, Best British Film and Best Director for Mendes.

The war drama was lauded by Rotten Tomatoes critics with an 88% “fresh” rating based on 472 reviews and an 88% positive Audience Score based on 25,000-plus verified user ratings. Audiences also helped make 1917 a blockbuster theatrical hit, as the film earned $384.5 million at the global box office against a $95 million budget.

1917 is new on Netflix on Saturday.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Deadpool and Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds brings the beloved Pokémon character Pikachu to life via his voice and a facial motion-capture performance in this animated and live-action movie hybrid from 2019.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu stars Justice Smith in the main human role of Tim Goodman, who enlists the help of the intrepid Detective Pikachu to help solve the mysterious disappearance of his father.

Also starring Kathryn Newton, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu was a massive hit with audiences, earning $450 million at the worldwide box office against a $150 million budget. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave the film a 68% “fresh” rating based on 318 reviews, while 10,000-plus verified RT users gave it a positive 79% Audience Score.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu debuts on Netflix on Saturday.

Several other hit movies will be debuting on Netflix on Saturday, including Will Smith’s Muhammad Ali biographical drama Ali (2001), the blockbuster animated family comedy The Lego Movie (2014) and The Conjuring movie trilogy of films from 2013, 2016 and 2021 starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.

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How To Read The Dune Books In Order

The Dune film series led by Villeneuve has been a box office and critical success, unlike Lynch's 1984 adaptation.
There are 23 books in the Dune Chronicles, with Frank Herbert contributing six original novels before his son carried on his legacy.
Reading the Dune books chronologically offers the best experience due to the series' complex timeline.

Frank Herbert published Dune more than 50 years before Timothée Chalamet starred as Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's popular Dune series , and several more books set in this sci-fi dystopian world followed the first novel in the years since. David Lynch directed the first movie adaptation of Herbert's book, which was released in late 1984 and was a critical and commercial failure. However, almost 40 years later, Villeneuve attempted to revive the onscreen franchise with his two-part epic science fiction series and was substantially more successful than Lynch.

Dune premiered in 2021 and was an all-around triumph. The film grossed over $430 million at the box office, and critics praised it for its cinematography, faithfulness to its source material, Villeneuve's direction, and the cast's performances. A few years later, Dune: Part Two 's Rotten Tomatoes score broke records , and many critics lauded it as one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made. Now, those who weren't aware of the world of Dune before 2021 are mega fans of the franchise, and thankfully, if they are craving more content, they can read the various novels in the Dune Chronicles .

How Many Dune Books There Are (& Which Ones Were Written By Frank Herbert)

Herbert found some of his father's notes detailing future Dune stories and was inspired by them to continue the series.

As of the writing of this article, there are 23 published books in the Dune Chronicles , and Frank Herbert wrote six of them while his son, Brian Herbert, co-wrote the other 17 novels in the series with science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson. Herbert (the elder) penned Dune , Dune Messiah , Children of Dune , God Emperor of Dune , Heretics of Dune , and Chapterhouse: Dune before he died in 1986, one year after his final published Dune book. Fourteen years later, the younger Herbert decided to pick up where his father left off and began writing novels set in the Dune universe alongside Anderson.

Years after his father's death, Herbert found some of his notes detailing future Dune stories and was inspired by them to continue the series. Herbert and Anderson have mainly published prequels, but some of their novels serve as sequels to Herbert's original collection of books. Of course, the first six Dune books hold a special place in many fans' hearts, though, and it's difficult to continue a series without the original author. However, Herbert and Anderson have done a marvelous job continuing Herbert's legacy.

Why Dune 2's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is So Much Higher Than The First Movie

How to read the dune books in release order.

Following the critical and financial success of Frank Herbert's first Dune novel, the author began working on sequels. Herbert dedicated most of his time to crafting more stories set in the sci-fi universe and published the second book four years following the first. Ultimately, Herbert wrote and released six Dune novels, with his last one published in 1984, one year before his death. Although he only contributed six installments to the 23-part series, the author's influence is unmatched. Herbert's Dune inspired countless movies and led to his son carrying on his father's legacy by writing 17 more Dune books.

How To Read The Dune Books In Chronological Order

Although Frank Herbert released his six Dune novels several years before Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson continued the series, most of Herbert's (the younger) and Anderson's books take place before the original author's stories. Meanwhile, a handful of Herbert's and Anderson's novels are set following Herbert's (the elder) books. As a result, the chronological order of the Dune Chronicles is a bit confusing, especially given how many installments are in the series — even the timeline of Denis Villeneuve's Dune is convoluted. Thankfully, guides exist to help readers out.

Which Order You Should Read The Dune Books In

Given that Frank Herbert's, Brian Herbert's, and Kevin J. Anderson's book series often jumps around regarding its timeline, consuming the Dune novels in chronological order rather than release order would make more sense to provide the best reading experience. Of course, readers can choose whichever course of action they prefer. However, given the science fiction franchise's complex timeline, it would probably be confusing if one reads the Dune Chronicles in release order. So, it would probably be best to go in chronological order to avoid getting lost while taking in all 23 Dune novels.

Dune 2 Has Fixed One Of The 1984 Movie's Most Disappointing Scenes In The Best Way

Which dune books are essential to read.

Reading 23 books is a tall order for the average person (while some consume more than 50 novels per year), so it wouldn't be surprising if someone wanted to only read the most important Dune books. The best place to start would be Frank Herbert's six contributions to the series. Herbert is the original author and creator of this dystopian universe. So, his interpretation of the world is unmatched, even though his son and Kevin J. Anderson have crafted some excellent stories. However, all installments in the Dune series are worth checking out if anyone has the time.

Dune is a sci-fi franchise created by Frank Herbert with the 1965 novel of the same name. In 1984, the first live-action adaptation was released from director David Lynch and starring Kyle MacLachlan. About 20 years later, a TV mini-series was released, followed by a new adaptation starring Timothée Chalamet.

Created by Frank Herbert

First Film Dune (1984)

Cast Zendaya, Austin Butler, Josh Brolin, Kyle MacLachlan, Stellan Skarsgrd, Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem

IMAGES

Dune Rotten Tomatoes 85% this year’s most anticipated science fiction
Dune 2021 Rotten Tomatoes
De Actualidad 112dcb: Dune 2021 Rotten Tomatoes
Dune: Trailer 1
Dune: Featurette
Dune Poster Showcases the Movie’s Stellar Cast

COMMENTS

Dune (2021)
Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/24 Full Review Arun This was a rare opportunity to get a post-Covid experience to watch a masterpiece of a film with other fans of Dune. This was ...
Dune: Part Two
"Dune: Part Two" will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a ...
Dune
Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 1, 2024. Dune's first half lived up to the hype as a mix of political intrigue, sci-fi storytelling and a large selection of really interesting ...
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Dune: Part Two Trailer #2 (2024) Watch on. It's been a long three years since Dune hit theaters and the wait for the sequel's premiere is nearly over. Critics who have seen Dune: Part Two are raving that it's even more epic than the first installment. The visual effects are jaw-dropping, the world-building is enthralling, and the ...
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Watch on. Three years after the release of Denis Villeneuve' s Dune, the wait for the follow-up is over, at least for critics who've seen Dune: Part Two and are sharing their thoughts on social media. The long-awaited sci-fi sequel premiered Thursday night in London, after which first reactions began to pop up online.
Dune: Part Two movie review & film summary (2024)
More than a simple savior or chosen one story, "Dune: Part Two" is a robust piece of filmmaking, a reminder that this kind of broad-scale blockbuster can be done with artistry and flair. Advertisement. "Dune: Part Two" picks up so closely on the heels of the first film that the Fremen are still transporting the body of Jamis ( Babs ...
Dune movie review & film summary (2021)
As a pretentious teenager in the 1970s, I didn't read much sci-fi, even countercultural sci-fi, so Dune missed me.When David Lynch's 1984 film of the novel, backed by then mega-producer Dino De Laurentiis, came out I didn't read it either.As a pretentious twentysomething film buff, not yet professional grade, the only thing that mattered to me was that it was a Lynch picture.
Dune First Reviews: The Breathtaking Adaptation Fans ...
After decades of failed attempts and unsuccessful efforts, Frank Herbert's Dune has been adapted into one of the most anticipated movies of the year — if not millennia. Does Denis Villeneuve finally do the classic science fiction novel(s) justice?The first reviews of his star-studded and visually epic new movie, also known as Dune: Part One, answer mostly in the affirmative.
Dune: Part Two : Release Date, Trailers, Cast & More
Joining The Path (Photo by ©Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.) The film is also an opportunity to introduce a handful of new characters. The two most important for Part Two are arguably Christopher Walken as the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and recent Elvis star Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha. Despite the Baron's continued villainy, the pair are more directly Paul's adversaries - indeed, the ...
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Dune: Directed by Denis Villeneuve. With Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa. A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
Everything We Know About Dune
Over on Giedi Prime, Stellan Skarsgard is a Baron Harkonnen for the 21st Century, and Dave Bautista plays his sadistic nephew, Glossu Rabban (A.K.A. The Beast). A second nephew, Feyd-Rautha, will seemingly make his debut in a later Dune film as the trailer only alludes to the Baron and the Beast.
'Dune' Review: A Hero in the Making, on Shifting Sands
Villeneuve has made a serious, stately opus, and while he doesn't have a pop bone in his body, he knows how to put on a show as he fans a timely argument about who gets to play the hero now ...
Dune (1984)
The long-awaited film version of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction epic, Dune, explodes on the screen with dazzling special effects, unforgettable images, and powerful performances. The saga ...
Why Dune 2's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is So Much Higher Than The First Movie
The critics' consensus about Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Visually thrilling and narratively epic, Dune: Part Two continues Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the beloved sci-fi series in spectacular form." The high praise for the 2024 epic science fiction film goes much deeper than that brief statement, and critics went into more detail in their reviews.
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The Fall Guy. The Three Musketeers: Part II - Milady. The Idea of You. Hit Man . Horror had an unexpectedly strong month in April, with Universal monster movie Abigail, Nic Cage action-hybrid Arcadian, The First Omen reviving the dormant franchise, and indies I Saw the TV Glow , Blackout, and Infested.
Is Dune 2 An All-Time Sci-Fi Masterpiece? 10 Biggest Takeaways From
Early reviews of Dune: Part Two have generated a remarkable 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, soaring past the 83% mark of 2021's Dune.This 97% Rotten Tomatoes score has already paced it in an extremely elite category alongside Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Metropolis (1927), and Portrait of A Lady on Fire (2019).Dune 2's critic score has placed it ahead of sci-fi classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey ...
Dune review: Villeneuve's sci-fi epic is breathtaking and a bit maddening
Dune review: Denis Villeneuve's starry sci-fi epic is breathtaking, and a little bit maddening. Earlier this summer, director Denis Villeneuve made news for insisting that watching Dune on ...
Dune Is an Admirably Understated Sci-Fi Spectacle
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Dune Review: Sci-Fi Epic Has a Cold Heart on a Hot Planet
Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic is immaculately crafted and emotionally vacant. Image via Warner Bros. Discovery. Director Denis Villeneuve takes his sci-fi seriously. While most mainstream ...
Why Dune's Reviews Are So Positive
Variety : "Dune" makes the worms, the dunes, the paramilitary spectacle, and the kid-savior-tests-his-mettle plot immersive — for a while. But then, as the movie begins to run out of tricks, it turns woozy and amorphous. The overwhelming problem most reviews (even the positive ones) have about Dune is how incomplete the movie feels. Denis ...
"Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong" About... Dune (Both of Them)
Villeneuve's Dune — just Part One of Two — debuted in late 2021 in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service, earning a Certified Fresh 83% Tomatometer against a 90% Audience Score, and it's currently up for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, though Villeneuve's absence from the Best Director category is widely considered a noteworthy snub.
'Dune: Part Two' Review: Bigger, Wormier and Way Far Out
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'Dune' 2021 review: The story sprawls, the pacing stalls : NPR
His screenplay distills Herbert's hilariously dense network of galactic institutions down to the major players. You'll miss some nuance, maybe, but that's why God made wikis for you to consult on ...
The Response to Dune: Part 2 Is Less About the Movie and More ...
Science-fiction nerds and IMAX enthusiasts rejoice, because Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part 2 has already made big waves on its opening weekend, securing a CinemaScore grade of A, a 93% fresh ...
Denis Villeneuve Changed the Fremen for the Better in 'Dune: Part Two'
Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two showcases divided Fremen factions - Northern Fremen are cautious of outsiders, while Southern Fremen hold radical religious beliefs.; The changes to the Fremen ...
The Best Horror Movie Of All Time Is A 16-Year-Old Vampire Chiller
Despite some impressive competition from the entire history of horror cinema, Thomas Alfredson's 2008 gothic vampire film, Let The Right One In, ranks as the best horror film ever made - according to the Rotten Tomatoes list. The movie, which received critical acclaim on release and boasts a 98% positive review score, sits at number 39 on the list and is the first true horror film in the ...
Bradley Cooper Bust 'Burnt' Among Movies New On Netflix ...
Rotten Tomatoes critics haven't warmed up to Lynch's Dune, however, giving it a collective "rotten" rating of 37% based on 117 reviews. Dune is new on Netflix on Saturday, June 1.
How To Read The Dune Books In Order
Why Dune 2's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is So Much Higher Than The First Movie Dune: Part Two is receiving rave reviews from critics, and its Rotten Tomatoes score reflects how much they liked it ...