Forget Timothee or Zendaya, the Dune prequel has space to forge its own identity

Dune: Prophecy ★★★
Binge

Accumulative when it probably needed to be audacious, this Dune prequel puts sturdy but familiar pillars underneath the otherworldly science-fiction strands that culminated in director Denis Villeneuve’s two celebrated Dune movies. Focused on how a fledgling matriarchal order, the Sisterhood, will take its first steps towards becoming the omnipotent Bene Gesserit sect, the story unfolds 10,000 years before the movie stars and their characters enter the intergalactic timeline. To be clear: zero chance of a Timothee Chalamet or Zendaya cameo.

Mark Strong and Jodhi May in Dune: Prophecy.Credit: Binge

It’s a commendable break. That vast gulf gives Prophecy the room to forge an identity of its own while playing in the Dune universe. Plenty remains familiar, from the abstract aerodynamics of orbiting spaceships to the galaxy’s insatiable hunger for spice, “the beautiful little flakes of orange dust” harvested from the desert planet Arrakis. The Sisterhood’s leaders, siblings Valya and Tula Harkonnen (Emily Watson and Olivia Williams), even have an infamous Dune surname, although the aristocratic house is very much down on its heels.

In The Penguin, another HBO spin-off from a Hollywood blockbuster, the show separated itself from The Batman by trading comic book superheroes for an organised crime saga. Prophecy doesn’t grasp the same reinvention. Dune’s lore hangs heavy, even if Arrakis and its giant sandworms are only seen on a battlefield recording. Some of the new template also feels familiar. When young royals visit a nightclub’s sex basement, complete with background coupling and strategic nudity, the Game of Thrones vibe is clear.

In the four episodes available for review, the plot moves between the Sisterhood’s minimalist HQ on rain-swept Wallach IX and the focus of their influence campaign as formidable truth sayers, the Imperial court of Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) on Salusa Secundus.

The latter has numerous machinations, and an unforeseen adversary for Valya in the form of military zealot Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), but the former tests knottier concepts. How does collective feminine power manifest? What questionable means justify their noble ends?

Prophecy was announced in June 2019, and has had a rocky production. Co-creator Alison Schapker is the third showrunner, and some episodes have the kind of convoluted writing credits that suggest they were finished and then started again. God’s eye shots and unearthly Hungarian sets give the visual element a mystical energy in part, but the wielding of power and manipulation of factions applies a mundane storytelling gravity. A smaller, stranger version of this show might have been beguiling. As it is, straining to be inclusive leaves it short of wonder.

Martha ★★★★
Netflix

The best recommendation I can give this documentary is that the subject is trashing it. American lifestyle icon Martha Stewart has been criticising this feature-length biography of what has been a ground-breaking and contentious life. In an era of authorised celebrity documentaries that trade their autonomy for staged access – see Netflix’s Beckham, etc – Stewart’s break with director R.J. Cutler (The September Issue), who she co-operated with at length, is a badge of authenticity.

Martha Stewart has been criticising the documentary about her.Credit: AP

To be clear, Stewart’s unhappiness lays with Cutler’s priorities, notably too much of her 2004 jailing for obstruction of justice in an insider trading case. The 83-year-old’s not bothered about the harsh or revealing things he shows because nearly all those harsh and revealing things stem from Stewart’s quotes. A few minutes in, she blithely describes herself as her father’s favourite, outlines his alcoholism and notes that he was a bigot who slapped her face. That’s just Stewart warming up.

Some of her quotes are wild, whether for their lack of tact or eye-raising revelations. Stewart has built numerous fascinating lives in the past 60 years: Wall Street pioneer, catering queen, the original influencer, media magnate, billionaire and Snoop Dogg’s bestie. Each comes with trenchant observations, terrific archival material and unfiltered truths. Stewart was plainly a brutal boss. “I never look the other way,” she says, and thankfully neither does Cutler’s documentary.

Bad Sisters (season 2)
Apple TV+

It’s understandable that a second season of this black comedy from Ireland went into production. It’s debut in 2022, driven by creator and co-star Sharon Horgan, was one of the year’s most welcome television surprises, entwining complicated sisterly bonds, mordant humour and a critique of Irish misogyny into wish-fulfilment television. It was scalpel-sharp farce with an excellent ensemble cast, but it felt complete when the finale concluded. Set two years on, the second season brings back the talent, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s covering too much of the same ground.

The Garvey sisters are back for the second season of Bad Sisters.Credit: Apple TV+

Murder Mindfully
Netflix

Another week, another intriguing German series that blurs familiar genre lines. In this black comedy, which has a smidge of the Coen brothers’ deliriously deadpan humour, successful criminal lawyer Bjorn (Tom Schilling, Never Look Away) realises that he’s let being on a lucrative retainer to mob boss Dragan (Sascha Gersak) ruin his family’s life. After taking a mindfulness course, Bjorn achieves a sense of clarity that has unforeseen outcomes, and he starts eliminating his problems and discovers a talent for underworld machinations. It’s macabre, but also satisfying – Bjorn’s brutal sense of release is genuine.

Tom Schilling discovers a talent in Murder Mindfully.Credit: Netflix

My Old Ass
Amazon Prime

It would be easy to say that fresh from giving Agatha All Along a vivid charge, Aubrey Plaza is on a roll. But the actor has been an accelerant to everything she’s been in – no matter how dubious some projects were – since her 2009 breakthrough in Parks and Recreation. She’s great again in this American independent feature film, which adds an otherworldly spin to the coming-of-age tale as 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) finds herself in unexpected conversation with Plaza as a 39-year-old Elliott. It gets sentimental, but the metaphysical concept works.

Maisy Stella (left) and Aubrey Plaza in My Old Ass.Credit:

Ghosts
Stan

Now that it has concluded after five successful seasons (the rather good American remake of the same title is ongoing), here’s a reminder that every episode of one of the most consistently funny British sitcoms of the past 10 years is ready for late arrivals. Set at a crumbling country house where one of the new owners gains the ability to interact with the many spirits trapped there from various periods of history, Ghosts was a spectral farce where the jokes were non-stop, but the tone always had an unforced feel.

Ghosts is scarily funny.Credit:

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.