Set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, “Prey” is the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior. She has been raised in the shadow of some of the most legendary hunters who roam the Great Plains, so when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people. The prey she stalks, and ultimately confronts, turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal, resulting in a vicious and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries.
No spoilers
To be honest, I’ve avoided the extensive rollout of films pitting the Alien vs the Predator and subsequent versions of films since Arnold and Carl Weathers faced off with the alien hunter. The movies have always felt like they were missing a reason why. The greatest films always deliver a why. Action and violence for the sake of showing action and violence is what led to what was originally a horror film becoming so video game like, the Predator ended up as a Mortal Kombat character. While I still don’t know enough of the history of this alien warrior clan, Prey would have worked in the traditional theater setting and easily allowed me to overlook the why.
As stated in the blurb above, the film is set among the Comanche Nation. Historically the Comanche were one of the fiercest fighters in Native American history, but a deep dive into the history of the people gives insight into how a seemingly “non-developed” people could fight the Predator. Comanche: The Most Powerful Native American Tribe In History (grunge.com) In this article, is the root of understanding the significance of the pivotal scene in the film. Naru’s brother in the midst of slaughter of a group of Frenchmen by the Alien, says, “I need a horse.” The Comanche were basically hunter/gatherers until they encountered horses and became masters of the animals.
There is an obvious ability for the film to move into the sensational with a woman becoming the protagonist, and while the scenes are shot in a combination of Comanche dialect and English, for the benefit of the viewer, had the decision to remain true to the Comanche language it would not have disrupted the film at all. There would have been an Apocalpyto styled approach to the narrative. The Predator was as formidable as always and this historically driven film of internal war opens the door for period pieces in the franchise. At some point, however, the Predators will have to gain a creation story explaining these rights of passage “hunts” for the visitors. Moving to the past opens the door for the creation story to take place. Prey is available on Hulu and it’s definitely worth your time.
