Dir: Dan Trachtenberg. Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush, Julian Black Antelope. 15, 99 minutes.
Prey didn’t need to be a Predator film. All those decades-spanning sequels, including Shane Black’s poorly received 2018 instalment, have lived in the shadow of that single, canonised image of a glistening Arnold Schwarzenegger dolled up in his war paint. None of them got close to replicating that muscle-bound greatness. But Prey succeeds by not even trying in the first place. Its thrills aren’t solely reliant on what’s already familiar to audiences. It isn’t powered by nostalgia – an exceedingly rare thing to see in mainstream cinema these days.
