The film Dune is set in the year 10191, when humanity has developed advanced technology enabling interplanetary travel. Planets function like nations, governed by noble families loyal to Emperor Shaddam IV of the Corrino Clan. One such planet, Arrakis, is a harsh desert world with extreme conditions. Despite its hostility, Arrakis holds immense value due to its desert spice, a substance more precious than gold or diamonds. This spice enhances physical resilience, crucial for space travelers, making Arrakis a highly coveted planet among the clans.
Chani (Zendaya), a Fremen native of Arrakis, reveals that the Harkonnen Clan has ruled the planet for 80 generations, amassing vast wealth that even surpasses the emperor’s. However, their reign is marked by cruelty, bringing suffering to the Fremen people. Emperor Shaddam orders the Harkonnens to leave Arrakis, but Chani suspects this won’t end her people’s troubles. She believes the emperor plans to replace them with another oppressive clan. Shaddam appoints the Atreides Clan from Caladan, led by Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), to take over. Leto is the father of Paul (Timothée Chalamet), the film’s protagonist.
Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a secretive women’s organization with the power to influence others through their voice, known as The Voice. Jessica trains Paul in their teachings, as he possesses unique abilities, such as visions of the future. Members of the imperial council, known as the Landsraad, arrive on Caladan to inform the Atreides of their new role on Arrakis. During the meeting, Jessica notices Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling), a Bene Gesserit leader, intently observing Paul, sparking her concern for her son’s fate.
Leto agrees to Shaddam’s request, vowing to bring peace to Arrakis. After the meeting, he sends elite troops to Arrakis as spies. Before their departure, Paul warns his mentor, Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa), about a dream foretelling Duncan’s death on Arrakis. Duncan reassures Paul, saying his strength will protect him. Paul then asks to accompany Duncan, but Leto refuses, explaining that the Emperor might be orchestrating a conflict between the Atreides and Harkonnen clans.
The Emperor’s divide-and-conquer strategy stems from nobles supporting the Atreides as potential imperial successors. On Arrakis, Leto plans to ally with the oppressed Fremen. Paul, inspired by this, trains in martial arts with Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin). Meanwhile, on Giedi Prime, Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgård) and his nephew Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista) discuss their discontent over the Emperor appointing the Atreides as Arrakis’ rulers. The Baron assures Rabban this is just the beginning.
Elsewhere, Jessica wakes Paul and asks Dr. Yueh to examine him. She has recently been visited by Gaius Helen Mohiam, who sought to confirm if Paul was the long-awaited chosen one. Helen tests him with a mysterious box, confirming his potential. After Helen leaves, Jessica reveals that the Bene Gesserit have been secretly shaping bloodlines across clans to produce a leader who could rule the empire.
Eventually, Leto and the Atreides arrive on Arrakis, receiving a warm welcome from the Fremen, who see them as saviors. Paul begins studying Arrakis to aid his clan’s mission. During his studies, a killer insect emerges from the wall, which Paul successfully destroys. The insect had been controlled by a Harkonnen spy hidden in the wall for weeks. Furious, Leto orders Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson) to root out any remaining spies to ensure his family’s safety.
Meanwhile, Helen visits Giedi Prime to deliver the Emperor’s message to the Baron, offering additional elite Sardaukar troops for the attack on Atreides. Helen warns the Baron to spare Jessica and Paul, as they are under Bene Gesserit protection. The Baron initially agrees but later vows to kill them by throwing them to the giant sandworms. Back on Arrakis, Paul and his group meet Duncan, who has returned from living with the Fremen. Duncan reports that the Fremen live in a central desert base called Sietch Tabr and are led by a supreme leader, Stilgar (Javier Bardem).
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Leto later meets Stilgar and promises that under his leadership, the Fremen in Sietch Tabr will not be hunted as they were under the Baron. The next day, Leto, Paul, and others observe workers harvesting spice in the desert. They encounter Dr. Liet Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), an Imperial ecologist and member of the Fremen. A sandworm approaches the spice harvester, and Paul directs the evacuation but accidentally inhales the spice. This triggers a strange vision, causing him to faint. Halleck saves Paul before the sandworm can harm him.
Back at the base, Paul shares with his mother a dream about a Fremen woman named Chani and a vision of her holding a baby with blue eyes. Meanwhile, on Salusa Secundus, the Emperor and Harkonnen forces prepare to attack Arrakis, confident in their victory despite the Atreides’ strength due to their larger numbers. That night, Leto discovers the guards have been killed, and an assassin insect paralyzes him. It is revealed that Dr. Yueh has betrayed Leto under duress, as the Harkonnens had taken his wife hostage.
Overcome with guilt, Dr. Yueh gives Leto poisonous false teeth to use against the Baron. Soon after, a massive air assault by Imperial and Harkonnen forces breaks through the Atreides’ defenses. Halleck and his troops brace for ground combat, but they are overwhelmed. Amid the chaos, Duncan defeats several enemies and searches for Leto, Paul, and Jessica. Unable to find them, he escapes using a dragonfly plane captured from the Harkonnens.
Paul and Jessica, captured by the Harkonnen troops, manage to escape using their Voice powers. After fleeing, they return home only to find it engulfed in flames. To avoid recapture, they hide behind the sand dunes. During their hiding, Paul inhales a large amount of spice, triggering a vision of himself leading a holy war. Elsewhere, the Baron kills Dr. Yueh after the doctor demands the release of his wife. When the Baron approaches the paralyzed Leto, Leto uses the poisonous breath from Dr. Yueh’s false teeth. However, the Baron survives the attack by activating his armor in time.
Later, Paul and Jessica emerge from hiding and reunite with Duncan, who has found them with Dr. Kynes. Duncan expresses regret over his inability to protect Leto and the others. As a sandstorm approaches, the group seeks refuge in an old ecological testing station. Their location is soon discovered by Sardaukar troops. Duncan heroically holds them off, defeating many before being overwhelmed and killed. Paul, Jessica, and Dr. Kynes find an escape route, but the plane they discover can carry only two passengers. Dr. Kynes chooses to stay behind, activating a sandworm lure to confront the Sardaukar.
Dr. Kynes is fatally stabbed by the Sardaukar, but the giant sandworms arrive, devouring the soldiers. Meanwhile, Paul and Jessica escape their pursuers and journey toward Sietch Tabr to meet Stilgar. During their flight, their plane is damaged in a sandstorm, forcing them to continue on foot. Relying on Paul’s visions, they navigate toward Stilgar’s location. Nearing their destination, Paul encounters another challenge when he steps on a Fremen mine designed to summon sandworms near Sietch Tabr.
As the sandworms close in on Paul and Jessica, someone activates a tamper, causing the creatures to retreat. Relieved, they continue their journey and eventually find Stilgar. Initially, Stilgar is hesitant to accept Jessica, seeing her as a weak old woman. To challenge this notion, Jessica engages Stilgar in a fight and easily defeats him using her martial arts skills. Impressed by her strength, Stilgar accepts them and leads the pair to the Fremen’s hiding place. However, a subordinate named Jamis objects to their presence and, following Fremen tradition, challenges Paul to a duel to the death.
With Chani’s knife in hand, Paul faces Jamis in combat. Though he is clearly more skilled, Paul hesitates to deliver the final blow. A vision warns him that his reluctance could lead to his own death in the future. Empowered by this insight, Paul summons the courage to kill Jamis, solidifying his acceptance among the Fremen. Recognizing Paul as the chosen one, the Fremen bring him and Jessica along on their journey. Along the way, Paul witnesses a Fremen riding a sandworm like a skilled horseman. Awestruck, Paul and Jessica marvel at the sight, but Chani remarks that this is only the beginning and hints at even greater wonders awaiting them.
