Let Us Prey - How Nature and Culture Reinvigorated a Popcorn Franchise
Nobody saw this coming: a new chapter in the macho, muscle-bound 80’s monster franchise with a First Nations female as the hero. We take a deeper look at Prey, the movie that proves an ancient cultural connection to the environment is more powerful than any pair of biceps.
good.film
2 years ago
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The year is 1987 and Hollywood is obsessed with rippling, white, ultra-action men who kick ass and serve up catchy one-liners. In a decade full of high-octane stars, there is one undeniable king of the muscle-bound macho men - Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie is the muscliest, the manliest, the macho-iest. And if that wasn’t a word, well, it is now.
The man is unstoppable, starring in hit after 80’s hit: Conan the Barbarian in 1982, The Terminator in 1984 and Commando in 1985. Arnie is on a tear and he’s only halfway through the decade. Then a little movie called Predator hit theatres in 1987, and of the biggest action franchises in cinematic history is born off the back of Arnie’s very muscular… back.
Fast forward 35 years to the year 2022. There are now six entries in the Predator franchise, including the strange, hot mess crossover films that were the two Alien vs Predator movies. The franchise is at a crossroads with - if we’re honest - more stinkers in the mix than winners. But that’s about to change. Enter: Prey, the seventh entry in the Predator franchise.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg and executive produced by Blackfeet and Comanche woman Jhane Myers, Prey stars Amber Midthunder, a Sahiya Nakoda, Hunkpapa Lakota, and Sisseton Dakota woman, as a Comanche Nation woman fighting for survival. In fact, she’s fighting for the survival of her entire tribe - against, you guessed it, the same dreadlocked, crab-faced Predator that’s relentlessly hunted its prey on the big screen since 1987.
Where the original Predator starred Schwarzenegger as Dutch, a white, machine gun-toting military bro in an unfamiliar jungle, 2022’s Prey puts Midthunder front and centre. She plays Naru, a Native Comanche woman living on her tribe's ancestral land who is desperate to be allowed to join the men as a hunter and not be relegated to traditional female roles. Turns out the real villain isn’t the Predator - it was the patriarchy all along.
Bit of a gear change, right? But it’s a change that’s unlocked a new, unexpected connection between a decades-old monster franchise, and a stunning cultural exploration. With Naru as the protagonist, Prey heroes Indigenous American culture and their connection to land and nature - and fights back against a history of problematic depictions of Indigenous American people in Hollywood.
What’s Indigenous America’s History on the Big Screen?
Indigenous American people have a long and difficult history with cinema stretching as far back as the 1800s because, in news to nobody here, colonialism is the worst. Colonial attitudes to Indigenous Americans extended into filmmaking, as white filmmakers portrayed Indigenous Americans as ‘savages’ who stood in the way of ‘progress’ and ‘civilisation’.
Western films were the main culprit of these harrowing depictions as they romanticised violence towards Indigenous American people with films such as The Indian Wars Refought (1914), They Died With Their Boots On (1941), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Rio Grande (1950) - you get the idea. Listing every offending film would take as long (and be about as much fun) as watching Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem - no thank you.
The representation and treatment of Indigenous Americans in Hollywood reached a boiling point at the 45th Academy Awards in 1973. This was the infamous evening when Sacheen Littlefeather (Apache/Yaqui/AZ) took to the stage on Marlon Brando’s behalf to turn down the Best Actor Oscar for the role of Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, as a protest against the nation’s treatment of Indigenous Americans. As Sacheen bravely refused the statuette and attempted to give a speech prepared by Brando, she was met with boos and racist gestures. John Wayne had to be physically restrained by security as he attempted to get on stage - because toxic masculinity is a hell of a thing.
Finally, this past August - just shy of 50 years on from the 1973 Oscars - the former President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences offered an official apology to Sacheen Littlefeather in an important moment of reconciliation. Sacheen was interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter in the wake of the apology and said of it: “I never thought I’d live to see the day I would be hearing this, experiencing this… when I was at the podium in 1973, I stood there alone.”
This moment of reconciliation - and poignantly, Littlefeather’s recent death - coming in the same year as Prey’s release has made 2022 a landmark year for Indigenous Americans in film. Hopefully, it’s a sign of more positive change to come. While this is by no means an exhaustive history of Indigenous American representation in cinema, it does provide some context as to just how valuable Prey is; a big-budget, franchise film that heroes Indigenous Americans and highlights their culture with intelligence and care.
How Authentic is the Cultural Representation in Prey?
So, while historically Indigenous Americans have had a difficult past with cinema, Prey is a refreshing flip side: it’s been celebrated for its focus on authentic cultural representation by critics and the stars of the film alike. In speaking to Vogue, Amber Midthunder said of the role of Naru; “In period pieces, we’re often represented as one-dimensional—either hyper-spiritual or overtly violent with savage stereotypes. I was interested in the opportunity to show Native people in a period piece and what our culture and way of life was actually like.”
In the film's opening shots of Naru in camp, this authenticity is clearly evident. From the traditional buckskin clothing to the tipis that fill the camp, Prey dedicates itself to representing Indigenous American culture truthfully. One example of this amazing level of care was revealed in an interview with Native Viewpoint where Amber Midthunder explained how executive producer (and apparently all-around badass) Jhane Myers personally rebuilt a prop used in the film to make it more culturally accurate:
“It was so cool to have Jhane Meyers, an enrolled Comanche tribal member, there every day. There’s a scene in the movie where a baby (and mom) walk by in front of my character… [and] he was in a cradleboard. And I remember Jhane being like, ‘No, no, this isn’t how it is.’ She took it home. And she literally made the cradleboard (correctly). It’s (that) attention to detail, that level because it’s important.”
This commitment to respectfully representing Indigenous American culture extended to the costuming and make-up of the cast too. In speaking with Native Viewpoint, Dakota Beavers, who played Naru’s eagle-hunting older brother Taabe, spoke about how each of the male cast members in the hunting party was able to incorporate culturally specific regalia derived from their individual Indigenous American heritage:
“We had all of these different guys; each of them had their own warpaint that was unique to each of them. Some of the guys also brought things from their culture — they were Cree boys and had certain ways of doing things that they wanted to keep legit for themselves.”
Prey was shot with the actors speaking predominantly in English, with some small amounts of dialogue recorded in Comanche and French (for example, when they encounter French colonisers). However, there is a second, Comanche-language version of the film available on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in other territories. All of the English-speaking scenes have been dubbed by their original actors in their first nations tongue… and it’s an amazing viewing experience. The fact that there is even a Comanche dubbed version freely available is not just a first for a major Hollywood release - it’s an enormously positive step for cultural recognition in mainstream media.
Who’d have thought a Predator prequel would become the gold standard for cultural authenticity? Not us, but it’s a stunning achievement! *chef’s kiss*. This level of truth and cultural specificity is rare in the current big-budget filmmaking landscape - you know, the one that’s kinda dominated by CGI-fuelled superhero films. That director Dan Trachtenberg and executive producer Jhane Myers were able to incorporate these elements in Prey is a testament to their commitment to portraying Indigenous American culture properly.
How does Naru use her connection to land to battle the Predator?
Okay, now let’s get to the action - if you haven’t caught Prey yet, this is where you want to stop reading and go hit play. This is your official SPOILER ALERT - read on at your own peril!
As Naru fights for survival against a seemingly unbeatable alien foe with zero chill, Prey focuses greatly on her and the Comanche Nation’s connection to the land. In the opening minutes of the film, Naru sources root vegetables in the forest, applies a medicinal salve to her dog’s injured tail and prepares a remedy from foraged herbs with her mother. The film wastes no time in showing us exactly how deeply Naru understands her surroundings and how capable she is. So capable in fact that she crafts the coolest retractable tomahawk ever - just look at that thing!
Naru’s kinship with her environment only deepens as Prey continues. In one scene, she successfully tracks down a missing member of her tribe and applies medicine to his grievous injuries. In another, Naru successfully baits and lures a mountain lion when her fellow hunters voice doubts that her method will work - because again, the patriarchy is alive and well. When Naru discovers the site of the slaughtered bison she mourns their loss, emphasising the needless waste and death that colonisers have brought. And as Naru is pursued by a bear, she identifies a beaver dam and understands how to get inside it for shelter without a second thought. Yep, Naru knows her stuff.
Most crucially of all, ahead of her final fight with the Predator Naru recalls the location of a bog she once fell into, and discovers a herb that makes your body run cold: so as to avoid her foe's (usually fatal) heat-sensing vision. All of these moments build upon one another, until - at the moment of the final conflict - Naru confronts the Predator once and for all, putting all of her earthly knowledge into practice. She consumes the herb to avoid the Predator's heat vision. As they fight, she lures him towards the bog. While physically stronger and more technologically advanced, the Predator’s lack of understanding of the environment proves to be its downfall when it loses the battle, face down in the mud. Slay, Naru, slay - literally!
The film ends with Naru returning home with the Predator’s head as a trophy: a fairly direct metaphor, shall we say, for the idea that Indigenous American tradition and understanding of the land is a more valuable asset than technological advancement or pure brawn. Take that, alien dude bros! The broader message here feels as crystal clear as the streams Naru and her tribe have drawn water from all their lives: if we respect, protect and care for the land, the land will protect and care for us in return. In this time of escalating natural disasters brought on by climate change, it’s a message that we could stand to live by more closely.
So Prey Is Actually Great?
Yes! With a 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating as we write this, it actually, really is.
It’s easy to watch a film like Prey and enjoy the ride, but ultimately discount it as a disposable popcorn film and not think too deeply about it. But Prey is full of things worth celebrating, from an amazing new female action hero in film, to the heroing of Indigenous American culture and commitment to authenticity on screen, to some subtle but impactful environmental themes.
Prey is the exact kind of action film you should support if you enjoy Hollywood taking chances on socially aware concepts like environmental consciousness in big-budget, franchise filmmaking. The Predator franchise may have a rocky history - but if Prey is anything to go by, the shredded, dread-ed alien may just have some more life in it yet.
Prey is available to stream on Disney+. In the mood for a different movie about planet Earth? Discover more stories that give the environment a voice at good.film.
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