Prey (2022) uses hunting to explore ideas of power, survival, and resistance. In 1719, the story follows Naru, a young Comanche woman who wants to prove she can be a great hunter like the men in her tribe. As she faces a powerful alien Predator, French fur trappers, and her own community’s doubts, this film shows different kinds of power, physical, technological, and mental challenges and how true survival depends on skill and intelligence, and not just strength.
In this film they are three main groups of hunters and the first is the predator which represents a very violent, and dominant kind of masculinity and it hunts only for sport and fun while using advanced technology to kill and prove its dominance and superiority which mirrors ideas of power and control. The second one is The French fur trappers which is the greedy and toxic masculinity, they use guns and booby traps and has a cruel tendency of exploiting both animals and people. The way they disrespect nature makes them very similar to the predators. The last one is the Comanche warriors this is a more traditional and very protective masculinity. Their hunting is more about surviving and providing for their community. By showing all these different kinds of hunters, this film compares how different forms masculinity try to express power. I haven’t watched the predator films so I can’t comment on them but for the prey seems that Naru’s strengths come from creativity and intelligence, she studies the predator learns its strengths and its weaknesses and she uses her surroundings “nature” to her advantage this more of brains being used more that strength and muscles.
I feel like both the predator and the fur trappers represent “outsiders” or “power hungry”. The predator uses quite advanced tools to dominate its prey, while for the fur trappers its use of guns and cages and destruction towards wildlife, neither respects the balance of nature, Naru’s skills mostly comes from her connection to her surroundings and her ability to use what she has to fight back. Naru also challenges the traditional action hero role as being she is a small, young and female but brave, smart and very determined. She also breaks most films usual portrayal of indigenous women as most won’t be the hero but the one who needs rescuing. The film empowers her by letting her lead her own story and defeat a powerful enemy using knowledge from her culture. However, some people may argue that this story still follows a familiar western “lone hero” structure.
Three examples of notable shots in the film are the first one is the deer hunt scene which is a long tracking shot of Naru chasing the deer and which highlights her agility. The second one is Mud pit scene which is a tight close up and quick cuts which builds tension as she singles and shows her struggle and foreshadowing her later survival trick. The last one is the final battle scene shows naru growth and victory and power
The Prey turns a sci-fi action story into a film about resistance and intelligence can go along way more than just physical strength.
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