Dune: Part Two

Need to Know
Dune: Part Two is a 2024 American science fiction film. After the devastating events of the first movie, Paul Atreides and his mother find refuge with the Fremen and look to rebuild their lives. However, Paul still has plans to take revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his world.

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken

Why Is It Worth Watching?
In this sequel to the majorly successful 2021 Dune, award-winning director Denis Villeneuve digs in deeper and manages to make everything monumentally bigger and grander.
Set in the aftermath of the first movie and taking place in the sands of Arrakis, Paul (Timothée Chalamet) is now part of the Fremen people and finds himself having to acclimatise and learn their ways, while being not-so-secretly prophesied as Lisan al Gaib (the supposed messiah to the Fremen).
He befriends a young warrior, Chani (Zendaya), who he grows close to during their time fighting side-by-side against the invading Harkonnens for control of Arrakis. As events play out, Paul’s arc develops from a naive young man to the potential leader of the Fremen. He later faces a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, as he attempts to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
With great story writing, stellar performances and everything more fleshed out than the first film, including costume and set design, Dune: Part Two offers a cinematic experience that truly goes above and beyond the usual.

One Day

Need to Know
One Day is a British, romantic-drama television series adapted from David Nicholls’ 2009 bestselling novel of the same name. The plot follows the 20-year relationship of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, who unexpectedly spend graduation night together and the next day decide to go their separate ways. But somehow life finds a funny way of derailing those plans and keeping their stories intertwined.

Director: Nicole Taylor
Cast: Ambika Mod, Leo Woodall, Eleanor Tomlinson, Essie Davis, Tim McInnerny, Jonny Weldon, Brendan Quinn, Billie Gadsdon, Toby Stephens

Why Is It Worth Watching?
Previously adapted into a film starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in 2011, this latest depiction (a better fit for a more nuanced retelling of the source material) is spread over a 14-episode series that effectively portrays the relationship’s sweetest highs and the equally heart-wrenching lows in the most impactful way. The plot kicks off in 1988, when working-class Leeds native, Emma (Ambika Mod), and upper middle-class posh boy from Oxfordshire, Dexter (Leo Woodall), first cross paths on the night of their graduation on July 15. They make an unlikely connection despite their many differences and stay friends, but life takes them down separate paths. Every episode revisits the pair on that very date in a different year, with each encounter playing out their will-they-won’t-they love affair in the most intriguing ways.
Offering plenty of moments ranging from wonderfully triumphant to deeply frustrating and painfully heartbreaking at times, the show is quite a journey and completely worth the binge-watch!