Dune (2021) is the second movie adaption of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel from 1965. The movie follows young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as his family takes stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis and is dragged into a war for the valuable resource known as “spice”, which makes intergalactic travel possible. After a betrayal by one of the Duke’s (Oscar Isaac) advisors and an attack by House Harkonnen, Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are forced to flee into the desert and join the native Fremen.
Just as the original source material, Dune (2021) features explicit ecological themes of exploitation and terraforming. As described by Rob Latham in his essay in “Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction”, Frank Herbert’s work elevated ecological awareness into the center of the genre. Discussions on terraforming, ecopolitcal transformation, empire, and indigeneity shape the academic discourse around Dune. While Dune (2021) starts as only the beginning of a larger story, it environmentally frames the actions of all involved parties – be it the ravaging Harkonnens, the negotiating Atreides or the Fremen who’s land is being taken from them for the Spice Melange. Dune (2021) shows what happens when the demands over a natural resource lead to a war at the expense of that inhabitants of that space.