Rebecca Ferguson’s Dune 2 Story Is A Reminder To Watch Her $72 Million Horror Villain Role From 5 Years Ago

WARNING! This article contains major spoilers for Dune: Part Two (2024)!

Rebecca Ferguson gives a hauntingly captivating performance as Lady Jessica in Dune: Part Two, which calls back to her brilliant role as a horror movie villain from 2019. Continuing to thrive in the action and sci-fi genres, Rebecca Ferguson has become best known for her roles in the Dune franchise as Lady Jessica, Mission: Impossible series as Ilsa Faust, The White Queen show as Elizabeth Woodville, and Apple TV+’s Silo as Juliette Nichols. However, one of her most underrated movie roles is as a menacing villain, who bears some similarities to Jessica by Dune 2’s ending.

After defying the Bene Gesserit’s plan and training Paul in their ways, Lady Jessica was already an incredibly complex character in 2021’s Dune. This complexity is greatly furthered in Dune 2 after Jessica drinks the Water of Life, after which she becomes the Reverend Mother and sends Paul on the ruthless path of embracing himself as the Lisan al Gaib, which is prophesied to cause the deaths of billions. With Dune 2 ending on Paul’s villain descent and Jessica’s more active part in her son’s reign, it’s a great time to revisit an underappreciated Rebecca Ferguson role where she dives into a truly villainous character.

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Doctor Sleep Is The Perfect Rebecca Ferguson Movie To Watch After Dune 2

Two years before Dune hit theaters, Rebecca Ferguson starred in Mike Flanagan’s 2019 horror movie Doctor Sleep as Rose the Hat, the film’s main villain. Based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, the Doctor Sleep movie serves as a sequel to both King’s The Shining book and Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 The Shining movie, which included some important differences from the novel. In the 2019 movie, Ferguson’s antagonist character Rose the Hat is the supernatural leader of a murderous cult called the True Knot, a group of people who capture and harvest the “shining” power of others for themselves.

Since many were skeptical about a sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep was greatly overlooked upon its release, ultimately earning only $72 million at the box office against an estimated budget of $45 million (via Box Office Mojo). However, Doctor Sleep received critical acclaim, even holding a 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned substantial praise for Flanagan’s writing and direction and the lead performances of Ewan McGregor, Kyliegh Curran, and Rebecca Ferguson. With Ferguson often playing the hero or an anti-hero, her chilling performance as a villain in Doctor Sleep was a great precursor to her character Jessica’s captivating, dark developments in Dune 2.

Doctor Sleep Proves Rebecca Ferguson Really Needs To Do More Horror Roles

Given the widespread praise for Rebecca Ferguson’s terrifying and complex performances in both Doctor Sleep and Dune: Part Two, it would be exciting to see the actress expand further into the horror genre. While primarily known for her sci-fi and action roles, Rebecca Ferguson’s horror movies, including Doctor Sleep, Life, The Snowman, and Drowning Ghost, are underrated entries in her filmography that provide similar genre skill outlets while still showcasing her entrancing dramatic chops. Considering Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan is known for working with many of the same actors over and over again, a horror movie reunion with Rebecca Ferguson is long overdue.

Source: Box Office Mojo

Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two is the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film that covers the novel’s events by Frank Herbert. The movie continues the quest of Paul Atreides on a journey of revenge against those who slew his family. With insight into the future, Atreides may be forced to choose between his one true love and the universe’s fate. 

Release Date

March 1, 2024

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Budget

$122 Million