Timothée Chalamet
Paul Atreides
Dune: Part Two
“Long live the fighters.”
2024
2h 47m
Nominated · Oscars 2025Nominated · Golden Globes 2024Nominated · BAFTA 2024Nominated · BAFTA 2024Nominated · Critics Choice 2024
Play trailer Overview
Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
2 min readThe Trap of Destiny
When Denis Villeneuve ended the first Dune on that abrupt fade-out, I remember leaving the theater impressed and slightly annoyed. It was all setup, all pressure building under the sand. Dune: Part Two is where he cashes it in—but not by giving us a clean heroic ascent. latestnetflix.com's view is that if anything, the film makes Frank Herbert’s warning sharper.
Villeneuve stages an epic and then keeps reminding you that the spectacle itself is part of the trap.
Timothée Chalamet is crucial to that turn. In the first film, he moved like someone still overwhelmed by the size of the prophecy pressing on him, all uncertainty and hunched shoulders. Here, midway through, something locks in.
When Paul addresses the Fremen in the south, Chalamet straightens up in a way that feels almost sinister. The voice hardens. The neck stiffens.
The body suddenly looks like it has chosen destiny over softness. It’s one of the smartest shifts in the performance: Paul doesn’t simply become more powerful; he becomes less human in how he carries that power.
Audience Opinions
Audience 8.6/10
"A towering sci‑fi epic revered for its overwhelming visuals, sound, and villainous showstopper, yet held back for some by rushed storytelling and a colder emotional core."
Visual scope, world-building, and the thunderous score are hailed as exceptional, with several calling it a monumental, once‑in‑a‑generation big‑screen experience and an improvement over the first part. Performances—especially Austin Butler’s feral Feyd‑Rautha and the broader ensemble—draw strong praise, and the film is frequently likened to all‑time great sequels. At the same time, significant changes to Chani and the ending, uneven pacing, and a perceived lack of genuine chemistry and emotional connection between Paul and Chani leave a vocal minority disappointed, latestnetflix.com maintains, feeling that spectacle sometimes overwhelms character depth.
What viewers praise
- Spectacular visual filmmaking The desert vistas, colossal set-pieces, and carefully crafted imagery—from sandworm rides to the stark arena—are described as jaw‑dropping and worth seeking out on the biggest screen possible.
- Striking Giedi Prime sequences The high-contrast black‑and‑white look and infrared arena fight on Giedi Prime stand out as some of the most memorable and stylistically bold scenes in the film.
- Powerful ensemble cast Timothée Chalamet’s evolution as Paul, Rebecca Ferguson’s intensity, Javier Bardem’s scene-stealing enthusiasm, and strong turns from Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and others contribute to a consistently strong ensemble.
- Austin Butler’s menacing Feyd-Rautha Butler’s gleefully evil, physically committed performance is repeatedly singled out as a highlight that injects energy and tension whenever he appears.
- Thunderous Hans Zimmer score The aggressive, experimental music and vocal textures are credited with making the film feel even more epic and giving several sequences goosebump‑inducing impact.
Common complaints
- Divisive Chani portrayal Changes to Chani’s role and her more openly skeptical stance toward Paul, culminating in her departure at the end, frustrate some book‑readers who miss her original arc and agency as they remember it.
- Inconsistent pacing The story feels simultaneously drawn out in some stretches and hurried in others, with Paul’s time among the Fremen and the build‑up to the finale seen as underdeveloped by some viewers.
- Thin emotional connection Despite the grand stakes, the bond between Paul and Chani is often described as undercooked, with criticism that their romance lacks warmth and convincing chemistry.
- Abrupt, altered ending The climax and resolution are viewed by detractors as rushed, with a short, choppy final duel and a sudden cut to the new status quo that diverges sharply from the novel’s feel.
- Spectacle over character depth Some viewers feel the film pours enormous craft into world scale and imagery while leaving individual character journeys, especially supporting roles and the Harkonnens, less nuanced than they hoped.
Recommended for
Epic sci‑fi spectacle fans Denis Villeneuve admirers Frank Herbert adaptation followers Big-screen IMAX seekers Hans Zimmer soundtrack devotees Dark space opera enthusiasts
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsSPICE, KISSES & CUT SCENES: THE MESSY, GLORIOUS GOSSIP BEHIND DUNE: PART TWO
If you thought sandworms and holy wars were intense, wait till you hear what was going on off camera. From improvised incest-adjacent kisses to heartbroken actors and Instagram-fueled breakup panics, latestnetflix.com maintains, the Dune: Part Two saga is just as spicy behind the scenes as it is on Arrakis.
On-Set Drama & “What Did He Just Do?” Moments
Austin Butler’s viral Harkonnen kiss was totally unscripted.
The moment Feyd-Rautha plants a disturbingly intimate kiss on his uncle, Baron Harkonnen, wasn’t in the script. Butler admitted he improvised the lip-lock with Stellan Skarsgård to show Feyd’s twisted devotion to the Baron, sending fans into a frenzy over the incestuous vibes and power play 
. The kiss quickly became one of the movie’s most controversial (and dissected) scenes online.
Denis Villeneuve: King of Painful Cuts.
The director has been brutally honest about how ruthless he is in the editing room. On deleting scenes, he said he feels like “a samurai opening my gut” but insists, “When it’s not in the movie, it’s dead… When it’s dead, it’s dead, and it’s dead for a reason.” Translation: don’t hold your breath for a comfy 4-hour “Villeneuve Cut.”
**Cast Feuds & Cut Roles: The Ghosts of Dune That Never Were**
Tim Blake Nelson: “I am heartbroken.”
Nelson was announced in the cast, shot material, and then… vanished. His entire role was sliced out of the finished film. He later said he was “heartbroken” to learn he didn’t make the cut, though he acknowledged Villeneuve felt the film was simply too long with his scenes included 
. Fans on forums have heavily speculated he was playing Count Fenring, a major book character—but that remains unconfirmed rumor.
Stephen McKinley Henderson shot scenes… and lost them.
Henderson, who played Mentat Thufir Hawat in Part One, actually filmed scenes opposite Austin Butler for Part Two, only to be removed from the sequel entirely . Villeneuve called omitting Hawat “one of the most painful choices,” explaining he was making a more Bene Gesserit-focused adaptation and that meant Mentats got sidelined . Henderson still gets a special thanks in the credits—Hollywood’s version of “it’s not you, it’s the runtime.”
Deleted scenes you will never see.
Villeneuve has doubled and tripled down: he refuses to release deleted scenes, extended cuts, anything. He compared resurrecting cut material to creating a “Frankenstein” from what he’s already killed . For gossip-loving fans, that’s basically a war crime.
Romance Rumors: Zendaya, Tom, Timmy & the Breakup Panic
Zendaya nukes her Instagram follows — cue meltdown.
In early 2024, Zendaya unfollowed everyone on Instagram, including boyfriend Tom Holland. Pop culture internet instantly screamed “BREAKUP!” . Even though it was clearly a full cleanse, not a targeted unfollow, the timing—right as Dune: Part Two promo ramped up—had people spinning conspiracy theories.
Tom Holland says “absolutely not” to breakup talk.
Holland later shut the rumors down, flat-out denying they had split and calling their relationship something they want to keep “sacred.” “We don't think that we owe it to anyone, it's our thing,” he said . To drive the point home, he flew to London to attend the Dune: Part Two premiere after-party with Zendaya, where they were photographed holding hands and sharing low-key PDA . Consider the sandstorm officially cleared.
Meanwhile, Zendaya and Timothée kissing on screen was… awkward.
Zendaya has described locking lips with longtime friend Chalamet—while the entire world knows she’s dating Holland—as “strange,” though both stressed it’s just part of the job . Chalamet has also said it’s “weird as hell” because they’re so close platonically. Fans, naturally, used all of this to meme Holland as the “boyfriend watching his girlfriend save the galaxy with another man.”
Leaks, Secrets & Surprise Messiahs
Anya Taylor-Joy: the best-kept secret in the universe.
Villeneuve and the studio played serious mind games with fans by keeping Anya Taylor-Joy’s role under total wraps until the London premiere. She appeared on the red carpet in full ethereal Dior, instantly confirming the online rumors that she was in the film at all . Variety and others then confirmed she’s playing a major character in the franchise . Villeneuve later explained he deliberately hid her casting so audiences could genuinely be surprised —and the reaction showed it worked.
Wild Trivia: One Hour of Love & Pitch-Black Teeth
Paul and Chani had a one-hour romance window.
Zendaya revealed that their intimate desert scenes were filmed during golden hour, meaning she and Chalamet had about one hour a day to capture the key romantic moments, calling it a “ticking timer” . They’d revisit the scenes over several days, refining the emotion each time. She joked about figuring out “how do they flirt” in this far-future universe and said navigating love on another planet felt “just as foreign” to the actors as to the characters .
Austin Butler’s teeth were blacked out on purpose.
While the book never mentioned jet-black teeth, the movie gave Feyd-Rautha inky chompers. Interviews and fan breakdowns note that Butler’s teeth were blackened with dye inside an Invisalign-style appliance, and Villeneuve has said the look drew inspiration from the black mamba snake and Geidi Prime’s warped beauty standards . Redditors have lovingly dubbed him “the goth shark of Arrakis.”
Chani’s eye color sparked a fan conspiracy.
Some viewers noticed Zendaya’s iconic all-blue Fremen eyes appeared inconsistently, with a viral Quora answer claiming the production relied on an AI-based process that sometimes failed, leaving her eyes brown in certain shots . That explanation isn’t officially confirmed, but it’s become the dominant fan theory—and a favorite nitpick in Dune threads.
The Spice Must Flow… and So Will the Gossip
Improvised incest-coded villain kisses, actors quietly cut out and left “heartbroken,” a mystery messiah reveal, black snake-teeth, and an Instagram cleanse that almost broke the Tomdaya fandom—Dune: Part Two might be prestige sci-fi, but behind the curtain it’s pure, premium Hollywood drama. And with Part Three already in the works, expect the gossip sandstorm to get even bigger.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.