Each week, I will look at a movie that is currently in theaters or available to stream and give some reasons why people should watch it. This isn’t necessarily a film critique, rather, an overview of what I think is enjoyable about the film, and why it’s worth seeing. This week we’ll look at Prey, which was released to Hulu in 2022.
Prey serves at the prequel to the popular Predator franchise. And while the Predator movies did start to decline in quality throughout the several sequels, Prey can make the case for the second best movie in the franchise. The interesting thing here for me is that this is not an origin story of how the Predators came to be or were created, rather, this is the story of the first arrival on earth. The story follows the Comanche Nation tribe that comes into contact with this otherworld being. Because it follows an Indian tribe, the technology humans have is non existent, which actually aides in making the fight against the Predator believable, and difficult. The casting decision to include no well known names proved to be a smart one as it was easy to believe in this ancient tribe without thinking of someone you’re familiar with. This movie in a way plays it safe due to the simplicity of the weaponry, and therefore operates well within the framework of a good Predator movie. For those that became weary of the franchise, this should act as a welcome reentry point. And for those that have never watched a Predator movie, chronologically this movie is first in the timeline, so you’re perfectly fine if you want to start with this one. We’ve seen some horror franchises get rebooted lately with the intent to try to woo new audiences while pleasing the fans of the franchise. This is one of the best executions of that, as it kept things simple.
Prey is currently available on Hulu.
