WHERE TRADITION MEETS TERROR
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'PREY' Review: A Rare Tribute To The Indigenuity, Strength, and Survival of Indigenous Peoples
Prey, a Rare Comanche led celebration of Indigenous resilience through its authentic portrayal of culture, innovation, and survival.
When rumors began circulating on social media that a new Predator movie was in the works and that it would “follow a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior,” my spidey senses started tingling. In 2019, when the DISinsider published an article announcing that Dan Trachtenberg would be directing the rumored Predator movie for Disney/Fox, Natives were concerned because Disney does not have a good track record regarding Native representation.
From Peter Pan to Pocahontas, the liberties taken with how Native people, especially Native women, are portrayed are problematic and the subject of much discussion and criticism within NDN Country. In 2014, when Rooney Mara was cast as Tigerlily in Joe Wright’s Pan, I created the hashtag #NotYourTigerlily. It was an effective way to shed light on the racist depictions of Native people in Peter Pan, but also a way for Native women to discuss the impact that we experience from the hypersexualization and erasure of our humanity and existence within pop culture.
Since then, we have seen a lot of progress with the success of shows like Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs that provide an authentic representation of contemporary Native people and communities. They allow our humanity to break through centuries of reductive and racist Hollywood tropes to be seen as we are. Fallible, messy, funny, and complex human beings. I was confident that Prey was going to be a step backward in terms of Native representation, but I was wrong.
I was so very wrong.
Prey is a groundbreaking achievement for Dan Trachtenberg, Jhane Myers, the late Juanita Pahdopony, the Comanche Language Department, and the entire Comanche Nation. It is more than just another Predator movie; it is a rare tribute to the indigenuity, strength, and sheer stubbornness that has allowed Native people to survive the forces that threaten our survival.
It is also the first film to be released in both Comanche and English, and I highly recommend ONLY watching the Comanche version of Prey. It is an incredible opportunity to watch a movie entirely in Comanche, but there’s also a lot of humor and essential nuances that get lost in the English version. Expand your horizons and watch the Comanche version. Fun fact: Dan Trachtenberg initially pitched for the movie to be filmed only in Comanche. So, you’d be watching the movie how it was intended to be seen.
Now let’s get into it.
Set in the 1700s, “Prey” is the story of Naru, who sets out to prove herself as a hunter. While initial descriptions stated that she was a “Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior,” thankfully, that is not what drove her story. I was worried when a conversation between Naru and her mother early in the movie went as follows:
“Why do you want to hunt?”
“Because you all think I can’t!”
I rolled my eyes and expected the cringe of White Patriarchal values and Feminist ideals of “Girl Power” to whitewash and erase the inherent strength and power of Indigenous women pre-colonization. Native women were not oppressed in our communities or seen as less capable because of their gender. There were and still are traditional roles held by men and women, but it was not unusual for women to be skilled hunters or even warriors. They were not denied the opportunity to use their skill sets to benefit the entire tribe simply because of their gender.
Thankfully, the movie quickly moves past that angle as Naru becomes more aware of an unknown threat to her people. She tries to warn her brother, who refuses to listen as he assumes she is still more concerned with proving herself at the expense of her well-being and safety.
Naru heads out on her own to find proof of the threat. However, she is soon confronted with the terrifying reality that she is up against one of the fiercest hunters in the universe, a Feral Predator armed with high-tech weaponry far beyond the imagination of the time. But the Predator is not the only threat. As the stakes grow higher and the final showdown comes to a head, you know that the Predator has found a worthy adversary in Naru and why the Comanche people were known as the Lord of the Plains.
The story is solid and beautifully done. FINALLY, a Predator movie that feels like it belongs to the Predator franchise. It’s been over 30 years, and I still remember the thrill of watching Predator and the joy of seeing a Native character just existing within that world. So, I may be biased because I’m Native. But in my opinion, PREY surpasses the original. It breathes new life and possibility to a franchise that has never been able to live up to its hype and fanfare.
This film has so many layers, and it is unapologetically Native-centric. There are so many tiny details and Easter eggs that you’d only recognize if you are Native. It is one of those rare films you can watch repeatedly and find something new to obsess over every single time.
I am so excited for NDN Country to watch PREY and for Hollywood to take note of what can be achieved when you intentionally involve Native talent in every step of the creative process.
It’s always a good day to be Indigenous, but when Prey premieres on August 5, it’s going to be a perfect damn day to be Comanche.
Johnnie Jae is a rabble-rousing Otoe-Missouria & Choctaw artist, journalist, podcaster, and advocate. She is the Founder of A Tribe Called Geek and Grim Native.