Visualizing neo-feudalism in the near and far futures of The Peripheral and Dune

Denis Villeneuve’s two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune (2021, 2024) and the Amazon Prime adaptation of William Gibson’s 2014 novel The Peripheral (2022) should each terrify audiences with their visceral depictions of the return of exquisitely stylized systems of violence used to subdue and preserve feudalistic social orders. These are works about how we might come to live if we do not combat the forces looking to reestablish social orders where white men are the exclusive holders of power and are willing to use targeted, personal violence to secure their continued hegemony. In short, these two works depict neo-feudalism, defined here as a system of power sustained by a wealthy and powerful few who may or may not hold titles or control vast military forces, but who deploy violence to secure their hold their power through the conquest of space and time. The sf texts under discussion highlight personal and political violence that becomes the means of establishing and securing power, without any pretense of following democratic ideals. These changes move us even further from any façade of valuing universal human rights that we may have today, under real threats of violence perpetrated by masked forces loyal to men, not to just laws and institutions, that have become all-too familiar. As filmed works, both Dune and The Peripheral privilege powerful and power-seeking individuals through celebratory displays of violence that are aestheticized as beautiful and life-affirming, not ugly and destructive, even as characters in both adaptations strive to at worst stave off dystopia and at best foment a better world.