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Prey | 2022 | R | – 1.9.2

content-ratingsWhy is “Prey” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong bloody violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many bloody encounters with an alien being leaving victims, both animal and human, dead and usually beheaded, missing limbs and with their spines removed with a lot of blood and matter visible, a few arguments about women’s roles, and some mild language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.


A prequel to the “Predator” series, set in 1719 in the Comanche Nation: A young woman (Amber Midthunder) has a hard time being accepted as a hunter and warrior by her tribe, but her skills and intelligence are tested when a powerful alien being with advanced weapons lands on Earth and starts hunting humans. Also with Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush, Julian Black Antelope, Stefany Mathias, Bennett Taylor, Mike Paterson and Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Comanche and French without subtitles. [Running Time: 1:39]

Prey SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man makes a remark about capturing a young woman in a trap.
 Young men are shown shirtless in most scenes with bare chests, abdomens and backs visible.

Prey VIOLENCE/GORE 9

 – The alien predator is shown to be a large humanoid figure with a monstrous head, large mouth and sharp teeth, and long claws on its fingers; it often roars loudly.
 Young men with spears fight an alien being: one is thrown and we see him bloody, one young man’s arms are cut off and then his head is cut off (blood pours and we hear squishes); another young man fights with the alien and is stabbed through the abdomen (blood is shown and squishing is heard). A young man and a young woman are chased through tall grass by an alien being and the young man is targeted and shot (we see a lot of blood spraying). A young man and a young woman are tied to a tree to be bait for an alien being; men on horseback ride nearby and we then see the horses without riders as they are attacked and killed by the alien (we hear squishing and see blood as bodies fall to the ground); one man runs away and is shot through the back (we see blood splatter).
 A dog charges toward an alien being and the alien prepares to shoot it until a man on horseback rides behind the alien and hits it in the head; the man attacks the alien and shoots it several times with arrows before he is stabbed through the back by long blades and held in the air (we see a lot of blood). An alien being steps into a trap, it is wrapped with a net, it gets free and kills the men trying to trap him using a bladed weapon: a net is thrown over another man and it cuts him to pieces and other men are killed and one man’s hands are cut off and he is then cut in half at the waist; one man shoots at the alien and the bullet ricochets eventually hitting the shooter in the head and killing him (blood splatters), other men open fire on the alien and it jumps between trees leaving a device on the ground that we see from a distance as it detonates and kills the rest of the men.
 An alien being shoots a weapon at a young woman, but the blast ricochets and hits the alien in the head (we see a splatter). A wounded man lies on the ground and pretends to be dead as an alien being walks near him; the alien steps on the man’s leg, he screams and the alien stabs him (we hear a crunch and see blood). An alien being stabs a young man through the back with a spear and blood sprays. A young woman hits a man in the head with a rock and when he awakens we see that part of his leg is missing and he screams because mice are skittering around the bloody wound; the man aims a gun at the young woman and shoots but misses and an alien being approaches him and cuts his head off (we hear a slash and see blood). A young woman shoots an alien being in the back of the head knocking off its mask (we see green blood and the alien roars). A young woman hides in a tree, jumps on an alien, finds a severed leg on the ground, jumps out of the tree and attacks the alien and they fight: the alien is stabbed and its arm is cut off, it holds a blade to the young woman’s throat, she pulls a tube attached to its head and face and it lets her go.
 A young woman sneaks into a camp where a man with a knife moves toward a dog (preparing to kill it) and she attacks the man fighting him and another man and we see flipping, slashing and stabbing and one man is struck by an ax and falls dead. A man missing part of his leg pleads for help from a young woman (we see his very bloody leg wound and bone is visible as she applies ointments). A young man is pulled out of a cage, held by two men and a third man slashes him across the chest and abdomen with a knife (we see blood) and the young man yells. Several young men and a young woman move through a forest hunting a lion and we hear that it attacked a member of the tribe; we see a wounded young man with bloody claw marks across his chest (we hear that he survives).
 A young man is targeted by an alien’s laser weapon and shot in the eye and abdomen three times with metal arrows and we see blood. A young woman and a young man sit in a tree waiting for a lion as another young man spills blood on the ground as bait; the young man in the tree is pulled off the branch quickly and we hear him screaming, the lion climbs on the tree limb and moves threateningly toward the young woman (we see blood on its mouth), who points a spear at it, until the limb breaks and the young woman falls on the ground hitting her head on a rock. An alien being is struck with an arrow and it roars loudly. A young woman runs from an alien being and steps into a trap (we see her bloody ankle), a man approaches and hits her hard in the head with a gun butt, knocking her unconscious and we see her wake up in a cage and he goads her and pokes her with a spear that she uses to cut his hand (we see some blood); the man yells and turns to retrieve his gun, threatening to shoot her. A young woman aims a gun at a man but does not shoot him. A young woman aims a gun at an alien being.
 Hunters and trackers are shown gathered in a camp with guns that they use to kill animals and take their pelts. Young men dismiss a young woman’s wish to hunt with them in a few scenes; in one scene a young man becomes aggressive and grabs her, they fight and they each end up with a bloody mouth and nose; she bites the young man on the arm (we see blood) and she is knocked unconscious by another young man. A young woman steps into a bog and sinks, she struggles to pull herself out and eventually manages to get out. An alien being steps into a bog pit and sinks, but then emerges seemingly unharmed.
 A bear feeds on a deer and we see blood on its face; a young woman tries to shoot the bear but her bow breaks, the bear searches for her while her dog tries to distract the bear, and the young woman hides in a pile of tree branches and the bear comes very close to snatching her but it is killed and dragged away by an alien being after a fight (the bear is shown with green blood on its mouth and we see a lot of the bear’s blood pour out of its abdomen and cover the alien when it lifts the bear over its head). A young woman finds many dead and skinned buffalo (we see the bloody bodies) in a large open area and prays over one. A young woman tracks a deer through a forest after it is startled by a loud noise in the sky; the chase is interrupted when her dog is caught in a trap and we see her free the dog’s tail and treat the bloody wound. A young man shoots a possum with an arrow and picks up the carcass. A young woman finds the flesh of a skinned snake and it wriggles, and she sees a large smear of blood leading up a tree where we see a snake skeleton. A young woman finds splatters of green blood on leaves and the ground. A young woman washes blood from her hands and arms after an encounter with an alien being. A woman scrapes tissue from an animal pelt.
 A man shoots a bird of prey out of the sky and we see it plummet to the ground with a fish in its talons. A young woman practices throwing an axe into a tree repeatedly in a few scenes. A young woman is kicked while she sleeps (in order to wake up) in a few scenes. A young woman prepares a fish for a meal and feeds her dog the fish tail. A young woman carries several dead rabbits on her back and we see her cooking over a fire and eating them.
 A young woman carries the severed head of an alien being and throws it at the feet of her parents (the young woman is splattered with green blood). A man carries a lion carcass over his shoulder and its severed head in his hand (he is splattered with blood). A wolf stalks a rabbit and chases it, it is startled by a sound and a cloaked alien being that it tries to attack but the alien slashes the animal, cuts out its spine and cuts off its head (we see blood and hear squishing). A snake lunges at and grabs a mouse and the snake is picked up, beheaded and gutted by something unseen (we see blood and later see the remains of the flesh and the skeleton separately). A dog finds a pile of lion dung and a young woman finds blood on leaves nearby when tracking a lion. An alien being sprays the severed head of a wolf with a liquid that melts away the flesh and fur leaving only the skull.
 We see a flying vessel in the sky and moving into cloud formations in a few scenes; an alien being is left behind in one scene and we see it flash in and out of a cloaking shield. A voice-over in the opening sequence says, “A long time ago, a monster came here.”

Prey LANGUAGE 2

 – 3 scatological terms, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (demon). | profanity glossary |

Prey SUBSTANCE USE

 – Several scenes show people and animals being treated for wounds with herbal remedies, and a couple of people are given pedals from a flower to eat and they shiver (we are told that the pedals cool the blood to keep the people from bleeding out). A man smokes a cigar in a few scenes, and a young woman finds a spent cigar on the ground.

Prey DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Gender roles, alien invaders, survival, failure, disappointment, trapping, decimating populations of wild animals.

Prey MESSAGE

 – Intelligence and courage will win over both brawn and technology.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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