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The Voice from Dune is uniquely portrayed as a very unnatural technique and reminds audiences how terrifying mind control can be.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dune, now playing in theaters and on HBO Max
Dune has plenty of unique elements that enrich the sci-fi setting in ways no other franchise has. This includes specific terminology and technologies, as well as a handful of unique abilities granted to certain figures in the universe, such as the Voice. The portrayal of the Voice in Dune is one of the more interesting elements in the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel and a good reminder of just how overtly terrifying mind control can be.
In the universe of Dune, the Voice is a powerful technique only known by certain powerful figures. It’s an ability that allows the user to manipulate their speech, altering their pitch and tone to force those that hear it to follow their exact orders. Perfected by the mysterious matriarchal order known as the Bene Gesserit, the Voice allows the user to more or less take over others and force them to do their bidding. It’s more or less the Dune version of Force Persuasion from Star Wars, granting the user amazing control over others. The Voice can be used to interrogate and learn the truth from enemies and even command others to commit acts they might not otherwise.
The Voice is used frequently in Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the sci-fi classic. In fact, one of the establishing sequences of the film for Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and her son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) are the pair practicing Paul’s command of the Voice. While he still has not yet perfected it yet, he is capable of summoning it and trying to force his mother to pour him a glass of water at her behest. The Voice is presented as an almost otherworldly moment for the young Paul, all other sounds seemingly fading away as he commands her. The jerkiness of her movements suggests how unnatural this is — a body working on autopilot with none of the natural motions that usually define someone’s actions.
Later, Paul has the Voice more definitively used on him by Gaius Helen Mohaim (Charlotte Rampling) as part of a test of his impulse control. He moves to her despite his protests and doesn’t even seem to fully grasp what he’s doing until he’s kneeling before her. It’s a frightening showcase of what mind control would likely actually look like — not the subtle machinations of telepaths controlling hordes of people, but a completely dispassionate and almost mechanical use of the human body. It’s an interesting way to play the mind control abilities, as it means there’s very little to be done to stop it and to stop the victim from killing others and then themselves.
The Voice is one of the more alien and supernatural elements of Dune, in a universe that is otherwise largely human. But it’s also among the most dispassionate and frightening elements of mind control depicted in recent memory, with even other horrifying characters like Jessica Jones’ horrifying portrayal of Kilgrave having a more natural-appearing form of control. The Voice is one of those elements that could have been difficult to ground from a filmmaking perspective but remains a genuinely compelling visual way to showcase a specific element of the universe.
To see the Voice in action, Dune is in theaters now and streaming on HBO Max.
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