Ten thousand years before the events depicted in the two recent “Dune” films, the Galactic Empire is barely recovering from a terrible war against artificial intelligence. It is now forbidden to build or own thinking machines. Peace nevertheless remains fragile and an exclusively female organization, the Bene Gesserit, sets up a gigantic secret plan to develop over generations, leading it to de facto lead humanity. But the organization, led by Valya Harkonnen, and which already manipulates Javicco Corrino, the emperor in place, comes up against a mysterious enemy…
After the success encountered in cinema by Denis Villeneuve’s films “Dune” (2021) and “Dune, second part” (2024), it is on the Max streaming platform that new adventures taking place in a universe having nothing to envy of that of “Star Wars”. But this time it is a prequel in the form of a 6-episode mini-series, allowing us to discover more about family lines – the Harkonnen, the Atreides among others -, or planets – Arrakis for example – playing a leading role in both parts of “Dune”. It is therefore logical to find a design similar to that used by director Denis Villeneuve in his feature films (he is also a co-producer of this program) and a polished aesthetic mixing new futuristic technology and grandiose architecture.
The complexity of the plot also lives up to the ambitions of the films, even if the screenwriters here draw inspiration from later texts by Brian Herbert (son of the creator of the saga, Frank Herbert) and Kevin J. Anderson. High-end science fiction which, in addition to revealing an interesting vision of the future, addresses some particularly current themes such as the threat posed to us by artificial intelligence or the balance of power between men and women.