Predator: Badlands
Dan Trachtenberg brought the Predator franchise roaring back to life with 2022’s Prey. It was a refreshing take on what was, at that point, a series struggling for any form of momentum following the poor critical and financial performance of previous entries. He continued to show the brand’s potential with Killer of Killers earlier this year, an animated anthology film pitting predators against fighters from across Earth’s history. He returns with his third film to follow the iconic creatures, Predator: Badlands; the twist this time is that we follow a Predator or Yautja, as they are known in this film. Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a runt and out to prove himself worthy of his clan on his first hunt.
Much of the action takes place on Genna, one of the most dangerous planets in this universe, where all life can turn the predator into prey, and even plants and grass are lethal. This makes a nice contrast to previous films in the series, where they have blended into their surroundings to pick off their targets. Joining Dek is Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged Weyland-Yutani android. This provides a subtle link to the Alien franchise, perhaps hinting at another attempt at a shared universe.
This is the first movie to properly explore some of the Predator lore, glimpsed here and there in previous instalments. We get a sense of their hierarchy and how they interact within their individual clans, which helps to flesh out the world and sets up some interesting questions for future features to tackle.
Fanning injects some fun and humour into what could otherwise be quite a dense and overly serious revenge story. While the rating may be 12a, there’s plenty of rollicking action that retains the brutality fans have come to love. It’s a rip-roaring time with Dek, trying to stay safe when everything around him seemingly wants to kill him.
The dangerous environment is in stark contrast to the gorgeous visuals. There is certainly a feel of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, owing to the New Zealand locations, Jeff Cutter’s cinematography capturing the splendour of Genna and its wild and unpredictable nature. Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch’s oppressive score adds to the tension, booming out and bringing an otherworldly feel to proceedings.
As he has done with Prey and Killer of Killers, Trachtenberg has again brought something fresh to the Predator verse with Badlands. It’s thrilling, never letting the audience rest throughout its one hour and 40-minute runtime. The ending certainly indicates this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of these characters, and we can only hope Trachtenberg continues to be let loose in this sandbox.
Christopher Connor
Predator: Badlands is released nationwide on 7th November 2025.
Watch the trailer for Predator: Badlands here:
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