Prey

This riveting Predator film has all the ingredients of a blockbuster. The first Predator movie released in 1987 is widely regarded as one of the best action/sci ...

For now, this sci-fi extravaganza promises to keep you glued to the screen. Can a hunter's instinct be enough to help Naru come out on top, even with the odds stacked against her? You can watch Prey exclusively on Disney Plus, under the Star banner. However, when she stumbles upon what turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator stalking her tribe, the fight for survival escalates. So are the Alien vs. The first Predator movie released in 1987 is widely regarded as one of the best action/sci-fi movies of that decade.

Our guide details how to watch Prey online, the latest film in the Predator franchise from 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg.

To stream new sci-fi thriller Prey, just sign up for Hulu (opens in new tab)’s basic plan. Stream: Hulu with a 30-day FREE trial (opens in new tab) (US) As Disney Plus has rolled out in North America, Europe and parts of Asia and Latin America, watching Prey using the service should be easier than ever. The Disney Plus price is already cheaper than competing streaming services like Netflix, but you can save even more when you sign up for an annual subscription that gives you 15% off the monthly price. Below we explain how to watch Prey online, available with the great value Hulu-Disney Plus-ESPN Plus bundle (opens in new tab) in the US. They’ve eviscerated ex-Vietnam vets, caused havoc in downtown LA, and taken on xenomorphs in the Antarctic. Now director Dan Trachtenberg brings the Predator to the native American tribe of Comanche , with the intergalactic hunter battling a fearless warrior circa 1700.

The review embargo for Prey has finally lifted, so what are critics saying about this long-awaited Predator reboot? The social media reactions were glowing, ...

How Trachtenberg, Aison, and Midthunder interrogate that very question is a thrill, offering the most unexpected of movie treats: a once-stalled franchise that suddenly seems bursting with delights — and, yes, plenty of blood spatter." Prey made me wish the Predator franchise was turned into something like Assassin’s Creed, with each new entry touching on a different time period, exploring the mythos from a new lens." The movie’s sole focus on her lead character, Naru, means that the supporting roster comes off a little wooden, but when Prey’s tracking the young warrior’s duel with the Predator -- full of powerful imagery and creative kills -- it rarely falters." But maybe, in the case of this franchise, that marks a slight improvement over movies that wanted to be nothing but what has come before." "By the time Naru stands opposite the Predator in hand-to-face-pincer combat, coating herself in the creature’s phosphorescent green blood, it’s clear that even a “Predator” movie can now be styled as a lesson in how to be. It's also a much-needed fresh start for the series that allows Amber Midthunder to shine in a role that promises to put her on the map."

It worked particularly well for the first two films, but over the course of more sequels, spinoffs, and forays into games and comics, that high-level idea has ...

(One excellently gross scene shows the Predator in all its glory, while doused in bear blood.) But the film does an incredible job of slowly teasing out the main conflict. It terrorizes the humans in brief flashes of violence. This includes both some of the Comanche hunters and a group of French fur trappers. For the most part, Prey is a pleasantly slow buildup to the ultimate showdown between Naru and the Predator. On one side, we see Naru slowly growing into herself, trusting her instincts even when no one seems to believe her (or in her — with the exception of her supportive brother). She’s equal parts impatient, determined, and resourceful, all of which come in handy as she sorts out just what’s going on. But careful and observant Naru is the one who realizes something more is happening. She trains with weapons on her own, pushes her way into hunting excursions, and, when asked why she wants this so badly, says simply, “because you all think I can’t.” The presence of a certain alien forces her into that warrior / hunter role a little sooner than expected.

10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg co-wrote and directed Prey, a return to the iconic Predator horror series that started in 1987.

(Hint: Besides the obligatory Predator dialogue riff, there’s a connection to Predator 2 afoot, too.) Trachtenberg’s film wields the elemental appeal of watching sci-fi/horror weirdness bend the boundaries of the human-against-nature conflict. The simplicity of “women can kill as good as men” threatens to turn Naru into a Predator-fighting, bloodthirsty girlboss, but the no-nonsense scrappiness of Midthunder’s performance keeps that from happening. The other members of Naru’s tribe are there to naysay and/or become Predator fodder. He may be out there in the woods, but he isn’t exactly communing with the spirit of Terrence Malick. But when a series of mysterious signs indicates that an unfamiliar creature is stalking their territory, only Naru is willing to hunt it down. Before Disney bought 20th Century Fox in 2017, the film studio had become known as a purveyor of durable genre movies like the Alien, Predator, and X-Men series — and also as an interfering cost-cutter, defined by its willingness to set pivotal action sequences in generic parking lots and Canadian forests.

Director Dan Trachtenberg's 'Predator' prequel is an excellent alien thriller anchored by a strong performance from Amber Midthunder.

This slow burn of a start is a killer character introduction, made all the more engrossing thanks to Midthunder. Thanks to a solid amount of bloody violence, Prey earns its R-rating. Yet its fight scenes are more than just gore fests for the sake of gruesome spectacle. As soon as that realization kicks in, so does the main conflict of Prey, pitting an elite hunter against an aspiring one in a showdown to the death. That distance proves to be the film's not-so-secret weapon, because while Prey is clearly a Predator film, it doesn't feel like any iteration of the Predator stories we've seen before. However, Naru is the first person to realize there's a new, dangerous apex predator on the loose. Director Dan Trachtenberg's Predator prequel is a taut thriller that's easily the best addition to the franchise since the original.

Amber Midthunder makes a spectacular action hero in this compelling survival story that just happens to be a 'Predator' prequel.

Prey is barely a Predator movie, which is why it’s the absolute best Predator movie in 35 years. It matters that the film’s narrative, about an undervalued hunter holding her own against an unthinkably challenging foe, works regardless of whether you’ve ever seen a Predator movie. Sure, it’s by default the best Predator movie since the first Predator movie. All due respect to Danny Glover’s over-the-top star turn in Predator 2, I’d argue that Prey is the first Predator sequel/prequel where the main human protagonist is more compelling than the monster. Prey is a generally engaging and often engrossing action-adventure film with a strong lead performance, theater-worthy production values, agreeably R-rated violence and just enough of a connection to the prior Predator films to appease that fandom. The best thing about Daniel Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison’s Prey is that it’s barely a Predator movie.

To earn her stripes as a warrior, Comanche hunter Naru (Midthunder) must take the ritual of kühtaamia and bring down a particularly dangerous beast.

Naru may lack the no-neck brawn of Dutch’s crew, but she’s wiry and ferret-quick, efficiently dispatching quarry both four-legged and two with bow, blade and tomahawk-on-a-rope (genius) in a symphony of choreographed mayhem that wouldn’t look out of place in John Wick: Chapter 4. Instead of Arnie at his Arniest, we have Amber Midthunder’s Naru, a defiantly competent Comanche fighter who flatly rejects her people’s notion of a woman’s role — a cause touchingly supported by her war chief brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers). Prey, by contrast, takes the same basic set-up (warriors in the wilderness, hunted by an alien) but strips out the absurdity and neatly realigns the original with more modern sensibilities.

Prey just works. Cinematic scale, strong performances (Amber Midthunder is a phenom), beautiful attention to detail, top-notch action sequences... it's a ...

The shot composition is thoughtful and cinematic (it’s a great looking film), the editing is tight, and the score had gravitas. Taabe is performed with a cool strength (and he, too, gets some great action sequences, horse and all), but perhaps best is the relationship between the pair, the latter being supportive of the former’s drives in a lovely, film-atypical dynamic. The biggest issue, then, is that it’s going straight to streaming... it’s a solid outing that deserves the largest screen possible. Prey, the newest outing from 20th Century Studios, takes that check, writes a number with a bunch of zeroes after it, and cashes it proudly. Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young woman with dreams of going against the grain and being recognized for her hunting prowess, is seeking to prove her mettle for all to see.

The cast and filmmakers of Prey discuss bringing primal surprise back to the Predator franchise—and making a movie that truly honors its Comanche setting.

Then you saw it decloaked with the biomask on, and you thought, ‘Oh that’s what the Predator is!’ And then it still had yet another look, and that’s something we haven’t gotten from any of the movies since then.” That to me was the most mind-blowing and special part of this experience.” It also added to the film’s visceral return to nature in the Predator mythos. Trachtenberg cites Terrence Malick as a reference for the look of the film. It was also a thrill to make. To achieve that effect onscreen was a learning process for many involved, including the stars. “For me, this is amazing because we always wonder what life was like on the Great Plains back in the 1700s,” Myers beams after entering the Den of Geek studio at San Diego Comic-Con. “So it’s pretty amazing to bring people to see just that. Watch it once in Comanche and once in English.” It is set 300 years ago, before much of the North American continent had been colonized by European settlers, and tells the story of Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young Comanche woman who is a gifted hunter and tracker that wants to break gender norms in her community and prove she is likewise a great warrior. However, unlike recent, stumbling attempts to relaunch the Predator franchise, Prey also succeeds by mirroring a real culture and real world that has long been undervalued onscreen. They were, after all, about to make the first good Predator movie in nearly 40 years—and perhaps more importantly a movie that took Indigenous and First People’s experiences seriously. “I thought about how Native Americans, and specifically Comanche, are so often relegated to playing sidekicks or the villains,” Trachtenberg says, “never the hero.

Prey's Rotten Tomatoes score has been revealed, and it's a major win for Hulu's upcoming Predator reboot. You can find out how it compares to the rest of ...

In our review, we concluded by saying, "Prey delivers pure Predator pandemonium, and is the Predator franchise at its best. Prey is debuting on Hulu this Friday, and the hope is streaming numbers will be high enough to warrant a sequel. With a female lead and a unique 1700s setting in The Comanche Nation, the Predator finally feels relevant again.

Prey is a Predator prequel set 300 years in the past — and it's already earning remarkable reviews ahead of its release on Friday.

Predator fans have had to endure a lot of underwhelming and straight-up bad films over the past few decades, but it seems that Prey is the prequel that we truly deserve. As noted, the film will be streaming from Friday (August 5) on Hulu in the U.S., and over in the U.K., it’ll drop on Disney Plus on the same date. Heck, even viewers with no interest in the Predator movies till now might want to give Prey a shot by the sounds of it. This is a franchise high for the Predator series, with only 1987’s Predator on 80% landing anywhere near. The film currently scores a very strong 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (opens in new tab). Prey is scheduled to launch on Hulu on Friday, August 5 and the pre-release signs look extremely promising.

The wide open spaces of Alberta look fantastic, there's plenty of monster mayhem and action, and the striking score by Sarah Schachner deserves to be blasted ...

As it yanks the bear from its pursuit, lifting it up for the kill, the invisible Predator is painted into view by an outpouring of blood. This gives the creature a kindred spirit of sorts in Naru ( Amber Midthunder), a young warrior who wishes to hunt like the males in her tribe, including her brother, Taabe ( Dakota Beavers). Naru is teased by the guys, who state that hunting is men’s work, but we learn she can hold her own in a fight. The Predator’s modus operandi is the same, however: it is a hunter and it’s looking for trophies of prey. “Prey” bills itself as an origin story of the first Predator alien to appear on Earth. This one is fitted with slightly retro versions of the weapons wielded by the late actor Kevin Peter Hall in the first film. Considering the recent cancellations of films scheduled for upcoming release, I suppose I should be thankful that “Prey” can be seen anywhere, including on services to which I do not subscribe. So, why is Disney dumping an entry in the popular “ Predator” series on Hulu in the middle of the summer?

The world wasn't calling out for yet another Predator movie but 10 Cloverfield Lane's Dan Trachtenberg finds mileage in a light-footed prequel led by Native ...

Said smashing is done with gusto from 25-year-old Midthunder who rises to the challenge of taking on the Predator even if her character’s ascent from unsure warrior-in-training to top-of-the-food-chain action hero is missing a few beats or, dare I say, a training montage. While it really shouldn’t be, it feels genuinely new to see a genre film of this scale centred on an almost entirely Native cast (the only white characters are odious French invaders, natch). It’s worth applauding not because of the mere fact of what it is and what it means but because screenwriter Patrick Aison (a TV pro with credits including Jack Ryan and Wayward Pines), finds a way to make it all seem perfectly seamless, the setting an inventive way to impose a new set of restrictions on a story we’ve seen a few too many times before. But when Naru notices a new kind of predator, one who can’t simply be hunted as a bear or lion would, she finds a way to prove herself and save her people.

By focusing on the stories of the human characters—in a uniquely anachronistic setting—director Dan Trachtenberg rekindles interest in the uneven film ...

This is the shot in the arm that the franchise needed—a confident addition to its timeline, populated with moments that will leave long-time fans grinning and will encourage newcomers to explore the rest of the franchise. Alongside their respect for the Comanche, to whom the film is dedicated (and producer Jhane Meyers is a Comanche and Blackfeet American Indian, ensuring respect and authenticity in its depictions of their culture), there is a giddiness in the filmmaking that suggests that the film was a passion project for all involved. Stunt coordinators Steven McMichael and Jeremy Marinas conjure magic magic with mostly primitive weapons like bows and arrows, hatchets, and swords, giving the fights the kind of brisk pacing and visceral impact that action junkies expect in a post-John Wick film landscape. After Naru’s first confrontation with the Predator, the film continuously escalates and it becomes a gauntlet run of near escapes and propulsive action, depicted in decidedly cool but never larger-than-life terms. Aison establishes what hunting means to the Comanche, defines the roles expected of men and women in their tribe, and spotlights Naru’s competitive relationship with her older brother, Taabe, who’s played with empathy and star-making confidence by newcomer Dakota Beavers. Trachtenberg and cinematographer Jeff Cutter, reteaming from their work on 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), take great lengths to create a sense of naturalism and beauty, both in the landscape and performances, that leads naturally into the eventual showdown with an alien audiences know is waiting in the brush. With Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey, the long-running Predator franchise finally has an entry that can stand as an equal to the original film, precisely because it narrows its focus on the story elements that matter dramatically, instead of unnecessarily expanding the franchise’s mythology.

The “Predator” franchise gets a prequel and the Comanche Nation gets a space invader in this unremarkable adventure.

Yet despite a female-empowerment theme and an adversary fairly bristling with fancy weaponry, “Prey” never builds a head of steam. Taking note of the bloody remains, Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young Comanche woman, and her brother (Dakota Beavers) determine to track the perpetrator. Dropped out of a spaceship in the Northern Great Plains in 1719, the beast proceeds to research the local wildlife.

Amber Midthunder plays a young warrior battling an alien in 'Prey.' (CNN) For those who remember the original "Predator," the ...

Until that climactic showdown, the best thing going for it is Midthunder, whose recent roles include "The Ice Road" When it comes to battling Predators, brains tend to trump brawn. Naru soon gets the test of several lifetimes, recognizing that the alien (played by Dane DiLiegro, a 6'9" former basketball player) isn't an animal but something different, while also learning its strengths, weaknesses and the peculiar game that it plays in terms of who and what it chooses to kill.

A 1700s set "Predator" movie? Sure, why not.

She gets her chance when a Predator enters the picture, dropped off by spaceship from the skies above. It's a credit to 1987's original "Predator" that 35 years later, we're still dealing with "Predator" movies at all. monster essentials, and if it's the best entry in the series since the first, well, we've already established that as faint praise.

In jumping backward in time, Dan Trachtenberg's 'Predator' sequel, 'Prey,' frees itself from having to build out more of the mythology of its mandibled ...

In grounding its story in the experiences of an 18th-century tribe member, the film doesn’t just make a Native woman its protagonist, it presents a scenario, rich with potential, in which a high-tech adversary has to be taken down with arrows, tomahawks, a primitive pistol provided by a French trapper, and bloody determination — well, all those things and a dashing (terrestrial) dog who’s kind of a scene-stealer. Prey, the fifth movie in the Predators series, takes place in 1719 in the Northern Great Plains, and it shucks off all that lore like unnecessary armor to return itself to a lean story of messily aligned humans facing down an advanced alien enemy. In some ways, it’s a return to form that evokes and, less effectively, rebukes the brawny original. Studio movies are so deeply beholden to the familiar at this point that it can seem like we’re trapped in a world of finite ideas that can be continued or remade but never actually replaced with something new. The Predators got a name and warring tribes and dogs, and the best part of the new movie, Prey, is that none of these things actually matter. And Arnold Schwarzenegger, the burliest of them all, played a smirking sentient pectoral muscle with the undeniably badass nickname of “Dutch.” The Predator, a member of an extraterrestrial race devoted to trophy hunting across the galaxy with plasma cannons and cloaking capabilities, felt less like an invention unto itself than a response to all this Reaganite he-manning.

In a recent interview, Prey director Dan Trachtenberg broke down the new skull mask redesign for the latest version of the iconic Predator.

With the film set in the American Great Plains of the early 18th century, the more grounded and naturalistic aesthetic of the Predator blends in with Prey's hunting narrative. According to the director, this allows for a greater emotional dynamic previously unseen in a Predator film. The director explained that changing the mask to a skull was one of the very first ideas the filmmakers had for the character's redesign. It's a little bit stripped down, but still embraces the code that we know a Predator to hunt by – it's a trophy hunter. According to Trachtenberg, this was to create a more terrifying and "ferocious" appeal unseen in previous editions of the creature. Armed with only her hunting bow, a small ax, and her prowess, Naru takes it upon herself to track and kill the Predator before it wipes out her people.

Find out how you can watch the Predator prequel movie Prey, where it's streaming, if it's coming to theaters, and more.

The larger Predators prey on the smaller, weaker versions as they continue to hybridize their DNA with other creatures in order to become the apex version of their species. After the group meets up with Nolan (Fishburne), he informs them that they are actually on an alien planet, the home territory for the Predators. He’s survived a few seasons there and gathered that the Predators abduct and collect warriors and beasts from other planets to sharpen their hunting skills on. Directed by Nimród Antal (Stranger Things), the third installment in the Predator franchise has a double meaning, referring to both the alien Predator and the group of people hunting it. Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story) is introduced as Special Agent Peter Keyes, a replacement for Schwarzenegger’s character, Dutch, from the previous film. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the original Predator as he leads a team of men on a mission in the jungles of Central America. While there, the team is stalked and hunted by a creature that uses a cloaking device to avoid being seen. Set during a massive 1997 heatwave in Los Angeles, the Predator returns to wreak havoc.