By Seth Lukas Hynes
Prey
Starring Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers and Michelle Thrush
Rated MA15+
4.5/5
The fifth film in the Predator franchise, Prey joins The Northman as another outstanding historical action film.
In 1719, Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche Native American woman, must battle a deadly alien hunter.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (whose first feature film was the excellent 10 Cloverfield Lane), Prey is a thrilling character-driven action film.
Midthunder is captivating as Naru, conveying a fierce resolve and agile physicality. A ritual to prove herself as a hunter forms the film’s framing device, and the plot establishes Naru’s bravery and cleverness but also her inexperience and the well-meaning disapproval of her tribe. These factors give Naru further impetus to grow as a character beyond the immediate threat of the Predator.
The Predator itself is a fearsome figure with several cool weapons and abilities, and a handful of scenes in the first act show it studying Earth’s predators by bloodily working up the food chain. The action sequences are brutal and well-composed, with the highlight being a grisly skirmish in a burned forest. Prey has fun moments of callback to earlier Predator films without going overboard. The film has been praised for its Indigenous American cast and historical accuracy, and is notably the first Hollywood film with a full Comanche dub.
Prey features very well-developed relationships between Naru and her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and mother Aruka (Michelle Thrush), but the rest of the tribesmen are not well-defined. The plot has several well-seeded details, including medicinal flowers and Naru’s bowstring, but an important moment in the otherwise enthralling climax feels quite contrived.
Despite some rough edges in the plot, Prey is a riveting historical sci-fi action film with a phenomenal heroine and lead performance, and is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
