Prey is a 2022 American science fiction action film directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison, based on the Predator franchise by Jim Thomas and John Thomas. It is the fifth installment in the franchise and a prequel to the first four films. It stars Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, and Dane DiLiegro. The story revolves around Naru, a skilled Comanche warrior, protecting her tribe from a highly evolved alien predator that hunts humans for sport, fighting against the wilderness and fur traders to keep her people safe.
Development of the film began during the production of The Predator (2018), when producer John Davis was approached by Trachtenberg and Aison, with a concept that they had been developing since 2016. The film's title was revealed to be the codename for the fifth installment in the franchise. Prey premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2022, and was released by 20th Century Studios as a Hulu original film in the United States on August 5, 2022. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences, Midthunder's performance, visual effects, cinematography, and the Comanche representation.
Plot[]
In 1719, Naru, a young Comanche woman trained as a healer, dreams of becoming a great hunter like her brother, Taabe. While tracking deer with her dog Sarii, she witnesses the arrival of a Thunderbird in the sky (in reality a spaceship dropping off a Predator), taking it as a sign that she is ready to prove herself. Taabe agrees to take her with him as he leads a search party for the mountain lion that attacked one of the tribe's hunters. They retrieve their wounded tribe member and depart, the lion having apparently been spooked off by the Predator that follows and observes the hunters while collecting the skulls of several local predatory species. Taabe however stays behind to find the lion and complete the hunt.
Naru circles back and finds Taabe. She manages to trap the lion but falls and strikes her head after being distracted by a burst of light. Taabe carries her home and returns to finish off the weakened lion, a deed for which he is honored by the chieftain and the rest of the tribe. An envious Naru leaves home with Sarii in secret the next day to hunt; she comes across a herd of skinned bison, and later tries to kill a grizzly bear but quickly gets cornered by the beast due to her lack of experience. Suddenly, she watches as the bear is overpowered and killed by her stalker, fleeing in horror before running into a pack of Comanche hunters sent to find and bring her home. The creature swiftly ambushes and kills them, and Naru tries to escape before her foot gets snagged in a metal trap. The creature, seeing that she is no longer a threat, leaves.
French voyageurs, who were the ones responsible for skinning the bison of their pelts, find Naru and cage her, ordering their translator, Raphael Adolini, to question her about the creature. When she refuses to talk, the lead voyageur reveals that he has Taabe captive as well and tortures him before tying both siblings up as bait for the predator. The creature, using its advanced weaponry, kills most of the voyageurs while Taabe and Naru escape. Naru rescues Sarii from the voyageurs' camp and stumbles across a dying Raphael, who teaches her how to use his flintlock pistol in exchange for medical treatment. Naru gives him herbs to staunch the bleeding from his wounds and inadvertently discovers that doing so also reduces a person's body heat, making it difficult for the creature to see one's heat signature.
The creature fails to see Raphael with its thermal vision but finds and kills him when he makes noise. Taabe comes in on horseback to rescue Naru. The siblings are able to weaken the creature before it uses its invisibility cloak to hide and sneak up on Taabe, killing him by stabbing him through the back. Naru flees into the woods and finds the surviving lead voyageur, who had previously tortured Taabe, collecting water. She knocks him out, severs one of his legs, and gives him an unloaded gun before eating the herbs to hide her heat signature, baiting the creature to kill the voyageur. She uses Adolini's pistol to ambush the predator from behind as it revels in its kill, knocking the creature's mask off and stealing it, and runs deep into the woods to prepare for a final showdown.
Using all her knowledge of the creature's characteristics and tactics, Naru lures it into the same mud pit she had fallen into previously, then uses the creature's mask to turn its own projectile weapon against it. The creature dies of its wounds, and Naru severs its head and paints her face with its glowing blood. She brings the head and the flintlock pistol (revealed by the engraving to be the gun that will be handed to police officer Mike Harrigan by a Predator leader in 1997[N 1]) back to her tribe, who believed her to be dead, and tells them that with the arrival of white men, it is time for them to find a new home. The tribe honors her victory as Naru, beaming with pride, turns to face a young girl. An end credits image shows three Predator ships arriving on Earth and heading towards the tribe.
Cast[]
- Amber Midthunder as Naru, a young Comanche warrior who protects her tribe against a Predator.
- Dakota Beavers as Taabe, Naru's brother and a skilled hunter.
- Dane DiLiegro as the Predator. This individual is shown to wield primitive versions of the advanced weaponry used by Predators in previous films.
- Michelle Thrush as Aruka, Naru and Taabe's mother
- Stormee Kipp as Wasape, a Comanche hunter that looks down on Naru
- Julian Black Antelope as Chief Kehetu
- Bennett Taylor as Raphael Adolini, a French translator
Production[]
Prey is the second feature film from director Dan Trachtenberg (left) after 10 Cloverfield Lane. It stars Amber Midthunder (right) in the lead role as Naru.
The film began development during the production of the prior Predator film, titled The Predator (2018), when producer John Davis was approached by Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison, with a concept they had been conceptualizing since 2016.[2] Former 20th Century Studios Production president Emma Watts fast-tracked the development of the film prior to her resignation in January 2020.[3][4] It was conceived as an R-rated film.[3]
In December 2019, the film was initially under wraps, going by the name of Skulls. The film reportedly was to "follow a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior". It was to be directed by Trachtenberg and written by Aison.[5] In November 2020, Skulls was revealed to be a codename for a fifth installment in the Predator franchise, with the same creative team working on the film. It was not expected to correlate to the events of the prior installment.[6] Upon the announcement, Trachtenberg indicated that the original intention was to market the film with no reference to the Predators, something no longer possible with the confirmation of the film's place in the franchise.[2]
In May 2021, Amber Midthunder was announced to star.[7] On November 12, 2021, Disney+ Day, the film was given the title Prey, and announced for a mid-2022 release on Hulu and Disney+ internationally.[8] Trachtenberg explained his goal for the film was to get back to the roots of the franchise: "the ingenuity of a human being who won't give up, who's able to observe and interpret, basically being able to beat a stronger, more powerful, well-armed force."[1] Cinematographer Jeff Cutter shot the film. Filming was expected to occur in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 2021.[9] In July 2021, Davis revealed that the film was officially three quarters of the way finished.[3] In September, filming wrapped and the castings of Dakota Beavers and Dane DiLiegro were confirmed.[10]
Trachtenberg said they discussed whether they should start the film with characters speaking the Comanche language before switching to English for the benefit of the audience, similar to the Russian language in The Hunt for Red October (1990). They considered doing something similar at first but ultimately felt it did not work. The film was shot in English and Comanche, with the entire cast performing an alternate all-Comanche dub of the film. Both language versions are available on Hulu.[1] During post-production, Moving Picture Company and Industrial Light and Magic provided the visual effects.[11] Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (ADI) was hired to work on the special and creature effects on the film, having previously worked on The Predator and the crossover films Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).[12] Sarah Schachner composed the musical score.[13] The soundtrack album was released by Hollywood Records on August 5, 2022.[14]
Release[]
Prey premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2022, and was released by 20th Century Studios as a Hulu original film on August 5, 2022.[15][16] It was also released on Disney+ Hotstar in India and Southeast Asian territories, on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ as part of the Star content hub in other international territories.[17][16]
Reception[]
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 168 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.7/10. On the website, the critics' consensus reads, "The rare action thriller that spikes adrenaline without skimping on character development, Prey is a Predator sequel done right." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18] It is the highest-rated Predator film on both websites.
David Fear of Rolling Stone referred to the film as a long-awaited masterpiece and a series highlight. He said Trachtenberg succeeds both to capture the spirit of original Predator and give the movie its own identity, praised Amber Midthunder's performance and found her character to be an indigenous version of Ellen Ripley (the protagonist of the Alien film series), while complimenting the visual effects and action sequences.[19] Andrew Webster of The Verge found the film to be a refreshing take on the Predator franchise, complimenting the slow reveal of the Predator across teasers, praised the development of Naru's chararacter and her abilities depicted across the movie, and stated the film's strength resides in its simplicity and its commitment to follow its core concept, while complimenting the Comanche representation and the absence of stereotypes.[20] Belen Edwards of Mashable called Trachtenberg's movie the best addition to the Predator franchise since the 1987 movie, praised Jeff Cutter's cinematography and Patrick Aison's script, stating the film's setting provides a fresh new context, applauded Midthunder's performance and the development of her character, calling Naru a smart action hero, while complimenting the action sequences across the fight scenes and the level of violence.[21]
Odie Henderson of RogerEbert.com rated the movie 3.5 out of 4 stars and called it a worthy successor to the original Predator, praising the representation of the Comanche Nation and Naru's character, while stating the film succeeds to be scary, entertaining, and emotional at the same time.[22] Tom Jorgensen of IGN rated the film 8 out of 10, praised the level of violence and tension depicted across the action sequences, applauded Midthunder's performance as Naru, calling her ferocious, and stated the movie succeeds to provide a simple story that avoids being simplistic at the same time.[23] James Dyer of Empire rated the movie 4 out of 5 stars and found it to be the best Predator movie since the original Predator, applauded both Midthunder's performance and her character, calling Naru a ferocious heroine who does not need to embrace masculinity to become a warrior, found the period setting authentic, and praised the fight scenes and the level of violence across the action sequences.[24]
Future[]
In June 2022, Trachtenberg stated that there are discussions for additional installments to be developed after the release of Prey, saying their intent was to "do things that have not been done before" in the franchise.[25]
Notes[]
- ↑ As depicted in Predator 2 (1990).
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Colangelo, BJ (June 7, 2022). Prey Will Give Viewers The Option To Watch The Film In The Comanche Language.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dan Trachtenberg [@DannyTRS] (November 20, 2020). "This was meant to be a surprise. Been working on this for almost 4 years now. I am very sad that what we had in store for how you could discover this movie will no longer happen. It's a bummer. But also...YAY!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sneider, Jeff (2021-07-27). Exclusive: New 'Predator' Movie Title, Plot Details, and Timeline Revealed by Producers John Davis and John Fox (en-US).
- ↑ Lang, Brent (2020-01-30). Emma Watts Resigns as Twentieth Century Studios Production President (en-US).
- ↑ Dan Trachtenberg Set To Direct 'Skulls' For Fox/Disney (Exclusive) (December 12, 2019). Retrieved on November 22, 2020.
- ↑ 'Predator' Returning With '10 Cloverfield Lane' Helmer Dan Trachtenberg At 20th Century Studios (November 20, 2020). Retrieved on November 22, 2020.
- ↑ Amber Midthunder Cast in Lead Role of New 'Predator' Film (Exclusive) (May 21, 2021). Retrieved on May 21, 2021.
- ↑ Aurthur, Kate (November 12, 2021). Predator Prequel Prey to Stream on Hulu in Summer 2022.
- ↑ Lowery, Mike (16 February 2021). Predator 5 synopsis revealed ahead of Calgary shoot.
- ↑ Oddo, Marco Vitto (September 13, 2021). New 'Predator' Movie Wraps Filming and Reveals Cast.
- ↑ Filmography.
- ↑ Marc, Christopher (June 12, 2021). 'Predator 5': Studio ADI Officially Returns To Handle Creature Effects. The Ronin.
- ↑ Sarah Schachner Scoring Dan Trachtenberg's Prey. Film Music Reporter (June 16, 2022).
- ↑ 'Prey' Soundtrack Album Details. Film Music Reporter (August 4, 2022).
- ↑ Squires, John (July 8, 2022). Hulu Movie Prey Will World Premiere on the Big Screen at San Diego Comic-Con This Month. Bloody Disgusting.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.20th Century Studios [@20thcentury] (May 16, 2022). "Prey is coming to @hulu August 5" (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2021-11-12). 'Predator' Prequel Gets Title & Sets Summer 2022 Release (en-US).
- ↑ Prey Reviews. Metacritic.
- ↑ Fear, David (2022-08-04). 'Prey' Gives the 'Predator' Franchise Its Long-Awaited Masterpiece (en-US).
- ↑ Webster, Andrew (2022-08-03). Prey understands what makes Predator interesting: the hunt (en).
- ↑ Edwards, Belen (2022-08-05). 'Prey' review: Brilliant 'Predator' prequel is a must-watch (en).
- ↑ Henderson, Odie. Prey movie review & film summary (2022) | Roger Ebert (en).
- ↑ Jorgensen, Tom (2022-08-03). Prey Review (en).
- ↑ Prey.
- ↑ de Semlyen, Phil (June 28, 2022). ‘Prey’: Everything you need to know about the new ‘Predator’ movie. TimeOut. Retrieved on July 20, 2022.
External links[]
Template:Predator (franchise)
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