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Prey (2022)
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Engaging series prequel has gory, bloody violence.
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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Prey (2022)
Community Reviews
Based on 5 parent reviews
Lots of gore
Suspenseful and gory with a great story.
What's the Story?
In PREY, it's the year 1719 in the Northern Great Plains, and Naru (Amber Midthunder) is an aspiring Comanche warrior eager to prove her worth. She wants to take part in kütaamia, a rite of passage in which warriors fight predators, but with the exception of her friend and fellow warrior Taabe (Dakota Beavers), the young men around her don't think she's good enough and want her to stay with the other women. Instead, Naru continues to practice and hunt in the woods, where she begins to see inexplicable animal deaths, and when a young warrior survives a tiger attack, she wonders why the tiger ran off instead of finishing the job. As Taabe and the other young men explore and search for the tiger, Naru discovers something far more sinister than the natural predators in the area. Naru must evade French trappers and the perils of nature to convince Taabe and the others that a seemingly invisible and all-powerful predator is on a deadly hunting spree and must be stopped before they're all killed.
Is It Any Good?
This is a surprisingly good entry in the Predator franchise. Prey not only breathes new life into a movie series that seemed beyond played out by the inevitable shark-jumping fare of Alien vs. Predator, but also points to exciting new possibilities. This movie is, essentially, the Predator movie, only here pitting the titular villain against Comanche warriors in the early 18th century. Considering the franchise's spotty-at-best track record, cynics can be excused for thinking this would be little more than a gimmick, but the terrific acting, story, and nonstop action make it a solid action movie.
As lead character Naru, Amber Midthunder turns in a strong performance as a young warrior eager to prove herself and improve as a hunter while enduring the inevitable sexist digs and a mysterious, invisible, all-powerful hunter that's wreaking some fatal havoc in the woods. What sets this apart from so many other action movies is that it finds that effective balance between story and action. The two work perfectly together, which is no easy task.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the depictions of Indigenous people in Prey. How is this different from the stereotyping that has characterized decades of portrayals of Native Americans in movies?
How is Naru a positive role model? What character strengths does she show?
This is a prequel in the Predator franchise. How is this similar to and different from other movies featuring the Predator?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: August 5, 2022
- Cast: Amber Midthunder , Dakota Beavers , Stormee Kipp
- Director: Dan Trachtenberg
- Inclusion Information: Female actors, Asian actors, Indigenous actors
- Studio: Hulu
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Great Girl Role Models , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Character Strengths: Courage , Perseverance
- Run time: 99 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: Strong bloody violence.
- Last updated: September 30, 2022
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