This 2022 offering is available on Hulu and perhaps on other streaming services as well. I don’t know whether enthusiasts of cinema identify it as a specific genre, but I put this movie and others like Quest for Fire, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 Years BC into a category I call “coming of age a hell of a long time ago.”
This movie is meant as a prequel to the original Predator movie. It is set during the early European encroachment of North America at a time that the Cherokee Nation was defending its territory from the incursions of French trappers and traders. Our protagonist is a fierce, young female warrior who wants to prove her mettle as a hunter. Her nemesis is The Predator.
There are family members, a loyal dog, French trappers, and a bear, Oh My! In this movie, the protagonist and her tribe prevail, but only at great cost – reminding me a bit of the movie Apocalypto. The main lessons are that cooperation matters, and that determination and heart can triumph over technology and savagery – although it didn’t work out all that well for the Native Nations of North, Central and South America. Sigh.
I liked this movie. The characters were believable, not wooden, and the dilemmas in which they were cast seemed authentic rather than contrived. The Predator nemesis was the same guy we have all come to admire and despise. He was a serious baddy.
I really enjoyed the music, and Susan says that much of it was authentic Native American melodies and rhythms – sounds that I find both soothing and inspiring. Yes, I’m a whore for Baroque music (Bach, Vivaldi and the like), but I appreciate that other musical traditions have much to offer and no less merit. I recommend Prey to you.