It’s a damn shame that the Predator franchise got ran into the ground with middling theatrical releases while this excellent sequel gets relegated to streaming. But that’s where we are… Prey released on Hulu and manages to easily be the second best in the franchise. There’s no reason this couldn’t have been theatrical… other than audience disinterest after being burned so many times.

Prey borrows the premise from the original film but flips it. Instead of advanced ’80s superheroes, the main character of this film is an unproven female Comanche tracker in the early 1700s. She’s inexperienced but smart and she recognizes the signs: her tribes is being hunted by something new.

And since we’ve seen a Predator film or two already, we know the drill. This film has a similar structure to the original, but a very different energy. We’re shown early on that there’s a cloaked predator but the majority of the film follows this Comanche tribe and our female protagonist as she tries to prove herself. It’s divided in similar ways to the original film but it has a very different feel.

This is a great looking, moody, and atmospheric film. It’s got a real sense of place, a quiet natural feel, and there are scenes at night that shows you this is a world lit only by fire. This change in time and tone does a lot of legwork to make this movie feel like its own thing while still trading in the Predator mythos.

Amber Midthunder plays the lead and we’ve seen her in other films before, but this is a star-making performance. Her character works so well because she’s not instantly the best hunter, the best warrior. She’s easily outclassed and outmassed by the hulking predator. She has to learn, adapt, and outthink… but that takes time. It’s nice to see character restraint and development.

Prey is a genuinely worthy sequel that doesn’t require a lot of “yeah, but it’s still kind of cool” or “yeah, kind of lame but there’s some decent moments” type defenses. It’s genuinely a solid atmospheric action sci-fi thriller and a well thought-out continuation of the series. It’s nice being able to genuinely recommend a film in this franchise again.

Score: 90