Timotheé Chalamet's pale visage and perfectly coifed curls may be the face of the "Dune" franchise, but another powerhouse has emerged. In the second installment of Denis Villeneuve's carefully crafted and magically strange science fiction action film, we have a glimpse of a new savior: Zendaya.
The former Disney Channel star turned dramatic actor known for her Emmy-winning performance in "Euphoria," fully transforms as Chani, a Fremen warrior in "Dune Part Two." In Villeneuve's film, Paul Atreides (Chalamet) is a reluctant Chosen One. The son of a duke (Oscar Isaac) and a telepathic Bene Gesserit woman (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul is an outsider who lands on the desert planet Arrakis, where his family was sent by the Emperor (Christopher Walken) to exploit for Spice, an abundant natural resource.
When Paul's father is killed for political reasons and the fate of House Atreides hangs in the balance, he and his mother find refuge with the Indigenous people that inhabit the endless sand dune-scape. It's in Arrakis where Paul meets Chani, the girl who has been haunting his dreams, the girl who seems to be his soul mate.
Paul's life in Arrakis is one that simply begins and ends with Chani. Yes, she's beautiful but also an impressively skilled fighter, whose blue-eyed stare lingers on Paul and vice versa. It's here that we uncover more about Chani through Paul's gaze. And later throughout the nearly three-hour epic, we see the bone-chilling evolution of Paul through Chani's pragmatic eyes. Paul is expected to eventually become the Lisan al-Gisab, which translates to "The Voice from the Outer World," a powerful messiah prophesied to be the savior of all worlds and liberate Arrakis. However, despite this fate, through her actions we see that Chani is actually more suited to be the leader who's needed.
Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Chani in "Dune: Part Two" (Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures)Throughout "Dune Part Two," Chani's values are crystal clear: She believes in the power and strength of the Fremen's autonomy. Someone like Paul, an outsider, who is supposedly a chosen messiah threatens this very idea. Nevertheless, while his presence in Arrkais is troubling to most, she treats him as an equal. However, she still strongly emphasizes to Paul that she believes that only the Fremen can unshackle themselves – not an outside messiah or prophecy. Even if that's what spiritual fundamentalist Fremen like leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and countless others believe.
Part of Paul's supposed destiny is that he will easily adapt to the Fremen way of life. While the strong-willed Chani is apprehensive about Paul's presence, she is nevertheless intrigued by the teenager and doesn't want the outsider to butcher her people's identity and culture. Neverthless, when Stilgar challenges Paul to spend a full night in the desert alone, Chani can't help but want to save the clueless boy. She teaches him how to gracefully sand walk in the right way like the Fremen do, so he doesn't get eaten alive by sandworms.
Despite their very different upbringings and destinies, the pair bond through their desert adventures, like taking out Spice harvesters together. The quality time leads to a beautifully still scene where deep in the dunes, Chani tells Paul, “Your blood comes from dukes and great houses. Here, everyone is equal.” He responds earnestly, “I’d very much like to be equal to you.” It's a moment of sincerity that he will later haunt him. But Paul's rejection of the prophecy and his destiny is what leads Chani to fall in love with him.
While Paul's values are rooted in avenging his father through his thirst to eliminate the Harkonnens, he inadvertently evolves into Muad'dib, which is the name for a kangaroo mouse in Arrkais. Choosing that as his Fremen name signifies how he has assimilated while also acknowledging the wise survival skills of the creature. Now, as Muad'dib, Paul is finally tethered to a belief system. He believes in the Fremen because he is Fremen now. However, whether Paul rejects his fate or not, either way, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. In a scene with his mother, Lady Jessica – now a Reverand Mother who has been behind spreading that the Lisan al-Giab is here to the Fremen – she tells Paul, "We gave them something to hope for.” Paul roars, “That’s not hope!”
This immediately changes the dynamic between Paul and Chani too. The destiny he was so dead set on avoiding and rejecting comes knocking on his door and so is the inevitability of a full-scale war between the Houses which will lead to billions dead in his name. But this doesn't stop Chani from questioning religious authority like Jessica, Stilgar or Paul even though she loves him. It actually makes her critiques of the prophecy more valid because she knew the gentle and kind person that Paul once was.
Zendaya as Chani and Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica in “Dune: Part Two" (Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures)When Paul drinks the Water of Life and gains supreme consciousness, he becomes the Lisan al-Gaib. However, he dies first and Chani cries over his lifeless, limp body, screaming that his mother did this to him, that the prophecy did this to him. But like a twisted fairy tale, Chani is a part of the prophecy too. Her tears save him, and he awakens like Sleeping Beauty. He arises with her help and she slaps the resurrected messiah and it reverberates in the room. While everyone else is enamored by Paul's accession to power, Chani is brimming with anger. The anger stems from her heartbreak that Paul chose the power he so obviously feared. Anger and sadness are all over Zendaya's face as she watches Paul transform into a dangerous, populist cult leader.
In this story about false prophets and their ability to lead zealots down a dangerous path, Chani is the only character in "Dune: Part Two" who is a true skeptic of all that is supposedly fated. She is devout to her steadfast values and her righteousness even though it would be easier to submit to the brainwashing of the prophecy. Although Paul loses all of his sincereity as he promises he "will love [Chani] as long as I breathe" as he claims Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) as his future new wife and names himself Emperor, Chani has never been so sure that all of this is so deeply corrupt. And the audience notices it too. Paul's convictions come from a place of selfishness and Chani's come from her lived experiences as an oppressed Indigenous person — not a cosplayer like Paul. She leaves, heartbroken on a sandworm. But she's the only one who comes out of all of this looking like a true savior.
"Dune: Part Two" is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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