Prey (2022)

Film and Plot Synopsis

Set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, this is the story of Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior, raised in the shadow of legendary hunters who roam the Great Plains. When danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people. The prey she stalks: a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal. “Prey” is making history as the first film dubbed in Comanche and the first time a film has premiered in a Native language alongside the English version. (Courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

‘Prey’ Movie Summary

The film begins on the Great Plains of the United States in 1719. Naru (Amber Midthunder) is a young Comanche woman who dreams of becoming a great hunter. She admires and follows in the footsteps of her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers), who is more tolerant of his sister’s fantasies than some of the other members of the tribe. The tribe wants Naru to become a healer, which is what she has trained for.

One day, Naru is tracking a deer in the forest when she sees strange lights in the sky. Naru believes these lights are the spirit of the Thunderbird who is telling her that she is ready to become a hunter. In reality, the lights are an alien ship visiting Earth to drop off a Predator (Dane DeLiegro), an alien hunter visiting the planet to kill “game”.

Not long after, a member of the tribe is attacked by a cougar. The tribal members send out a search party to look for the lost member, and Naru sneaks off to join her brother and his friends in the search. They find the wounded man, and Naru and some of the search party begin the return trip back to the tribe with him. However, Taabe leads a group to search for the cougar. On the way back, Naru finds large, unusual tracks and a skinned rattlesnake and decides to go back to her brother. She is accompanied by another young hunter Paaka (Corvin Mack). Once united with Taabe, the three hunters set a trap to capture the cougar. Unfortunately, the cougar attacks and kills Paaka.

Naru squares off with the cougar, but she is knocked unconscious when she becomes distracted by strange sounds and lights in the forest. She regains consciousness back at the camp and learns that she was carried back by her brother. A short time later, Taabe returns to the village with the carcass of the cougar and is given the title of War Chief. Naru is convinced that there is something else in the forest and sneaks out with her dog Sarii to find it.

In the forest, Naru falls into a bog pit and is covered with mud. She is then suddenly attacked by a grizzly bear who corners her in an overturned root system. Surprisingly, the bear is killed by an invisible Predator which allows Naru to escape. She runs into a group of Comanche who have been dispatched to find and return her to the village. The invisible Predator arrives and kills the Comanche. During the fight and attempted escape, Naru gets caught in a trap left by human hunters.

Unexpectedly, French hunters arrive and capture Naru and Sarii. Naru and her dog are placed in cages back at the French camp. An interpreter, Raphael Adolini (Bennett Taylor), attempts to question Naru about the mysterious creature which the Frenchmen have encountered before. However, Naru refuses to talk. One of the other Frenchmen reveals that he has captured Taabe as well. They begin torturing Naru’s brother but then decide to change their plan to use Taabe and Naru as bait to draw out the Predator. The Frenchmen wish to capture the creature as their own personal trophy.

The Predator arrives and kills almost all the Frenchmen in the camp. During the confusion, Taabe and Naru escape, but Naru quickly returns to save Sarii. She stumbles upon a dying Raphael who shows Naru how to use his pistol in exchange for her providing him some treatment for his now severed leg. She provides the Italian interpreter with herbs that help to reduce his body heat and stop the bleeding from his wounded leg. The Predator returns and Raphael pretends to be dead. An observing Naru realizes that the creature cannot see him due to his reduced body heat. However, the Predator accidentally steps on Raphael’s still body which causes the man to scream. The Predator kills Raphael.

Taabe returns riding on a horse to rescue his sister. The pair battle the Predator and slightly weaken the alien hunter. However, the creature recovers and kills Taabe. Naru flees into the forest and runs into the last remaining French hunter (Mike Paterson). She uses the pistol to capture the injured Frenchman and decides to use him as bait to lure out the creature. Naru uses the herbs to hide her body heat. When the Predator comes to kill the Frenchman, she ambushes the alien with the pistol, knocking off the creature’s mask. Naru discovers that the mask allows the Predator to direct its spear gun, the alien’s main weapon. Naru takes the mask and runs into the bog pit, where she positions the mask to face into the pit. Naru continues to battle the Predator who begins to get stuck in the bog. The creature fires the spear gun at Naru, but misses. The positioned mask directs the projectile back at the creature which kills the Predator.

In the aftermath, Naru severs the Predator’s head from its body and paints her face with its florescent green blood. Naru returns to her tribe with the head of the Predator. The Chief (Julian Black Antelope) declares her the new War Chief to succeed her dead brother. Naru informs her fellow tribal members that it is time for them to move on.
In a post-credits scene, the story of the film is summarized in a series of ledger art paintings that ends with a depiction of three mysterious vessels descending towards the tribe.