28th December, 2023: Prey.
It’s officially official.
It’s Wednesday.
But you knew that.
Especially if you’ve;
- Read today’s Teaser.
- Looked at a calendar.
- Or looked at anything with today’s date on it.
I’m possibly waffling.
It’s Wednesday.
And?
With little else to do, I’m going to be watching a film: and letting you know what I’ve seen, and what I thought of it, tomorrow night.
Hopefully?
I’ll’ve picked something interesting.
29th December, 2022.
Are you still with me?
Still — hopefully — reading this post?
I hope so, I do: as I wanted to tell you what I actually watched, last night.
I had a few movies lined up: that I’ve been wanting to watch for a while.
The Black Phone appeals. As do Everything Everywhere All At Once and Peter Strickland’s Flux Gourmet.
Gwendoline Christie in something other than a suit of armour has some appeal.
But, eventually?
I decided something with a science fiction feel to it would be the thing.
And started watching … Prey.
~≈📽️≈~
Prey opens with a brief narration in the Comanche language: then repeats this in English.
Telling us how — a long time ago — that a monster came here: the here being part of the Northern Great Plains of North America, in the year 1719.
It’s a time when European settlers are only starting to make an impact …
And when one particular Comanche band are spreading out: to find new lands before others do: including French trappers, trappers keen to slaughter buffalo purely for their hides.
As the film opens … ?
We see Naru (Amber Midthunder) wake up: and ordered to forage for medicinal herbs by her mother, Aruka (Michelle Thrush).
Only Naru? Sneakily uses her tomahawk to practice her hunting skills: instead of digging up the much needed heart.
As she tells her brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers), when she meets him?
She’s seen a sign, a Thunderbird, that morning: a sign she takes to mean she’s ready to take the kühtaamia, the ritual hunt of the Comanche.
Something Taabe feels sceptical about.
What neither of the pair realise?
Is simple.
The Thunderbird Naru saw that morning isn’t a sign of heaven’s blessing.
It’s something far nastier …
~≈📽️≈~
Now …
What did I make of Prey?
Was it good, bad, or indifferent?
Equally as importantly, was it an improvement on Predators, the last film I caught in the franchise?
I have to say, Prey is a great looking film.
Granted, some of the audio was a little muffled.
That issue was solved — just — by tweaking some of the audio settings: the one that reduces loud sound, helped.
And some of the night scenes could have been better lit: there wasn’t much I could do, there.
But, over all? Prey looks good: and is, from what I can gather, mostly true to the practises of the Comanche it’s trying to portray, and to the French trappers that are one of the era.
About the only flaw on that front? One even I could see, reading the relevant Wikipedia entries, was that the films setting — the Northern part of the Great Plains — are in Montana, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Southern Canada.
While the Comanche were and are from the Southern parts of the Plains: in what’s now Texas, New Mexico, and southern parts of Colorado.
A lot further south than the film depicts.
It’s not something that spoilt my enjoyment — ignorance can be bliss, sometimes! — but it’s something that seems odd, given that the film has otherwise been praised for its authenticity.
Outside of those issues?
Outside of those issues, this is not a perfect film.
No, it’s not an arthouse film exploring deeply meaningful topics: it’s not exploring man’s ravaging of the planet, not exploring humanity’s cruelty to animals and tendency to hunt purely for sport, not — ha — exploring the inherent cruelty of assigned gender roles.
No.
But?
Whilst Prey isn’t perfect — putting a Comanche war band far north of where they should be tells you that — it is good: performances, pacing, writing and scary alien predator, are well done … and make Prey an improvement on Predators.
In watching Prey, you won’t be wasting your time.
Prey.★★☆☆
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