Cert 18 | ★★★★✩

Jewish filmmaker and popular podcaster Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) is finally back behind the camera in this ambitious sci-fi thriller which takes place 300 years in the past. Written by Patrick Aison, Prey is the fifth instalment in the hugely popular Predator film series — the first film having been released in 1987 —and acts as a prequel to the first four movies.
Prey stars Native American actress, member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribe, Amber Midthunder as a fearless Comanche female warrior who hunts and is hunted by a skilled alien predator. Native American actors Dakota Beavers, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush, and Julian Black Antelope also star in one of the few films to have a cast list made up primarily of First Nations performers.
In the Comanche Nation in 1719, a fierce warrior named Naru (Midthunder) aspires to be as strong and as fearless as her older brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and vows to protect her tribe from all invaders. When the prey she’s been stalking for days turns out to be a highly skilled alien entity, Naru goes against her brother’s wishes by chasing the creature through the wild Comanche valleys with only her trusty dog by her side. There, Naru meets another type of invader.
After a series of lacklustre sequels, dubious crossovers and an ill-judged reboot in 2018, one has to admire the franchise for trying a completely new approach here.
Trachtenberg and Aison’s highly ambitious premise not only puts the plight of native populations at the forefront of their sci-fi thriller, but it also delivers a genuinely thrilling, if often blood soaked origin story.
Bolstered from the get go by Midthunder’s peerless delivery, the film feels like a true and conscious new departure away from the usual rehashing and repackaging of the same old ideas. And while the story itself perhaps lacks a strong hook plot wise, there is no denying that this is one of the strongest, most original and most welcome prequels of any franchise out there.