Summary
Prey isn’t the most thrilling movie ever made and is likely to be one of Netflix’s forgotten releases. But the characters are written superbly, and they are the highlight of the film.
This review of the Netflix film Prey (2021) contains no spoilers.
A group of male friends go to a forest. Which is where they’re hunted by an unknown assailant. Will anyone survive?
On paper this film is less than 90 minutes in its length, which should make it easy to watch, right? Nope. Somehow this film feels a lot longer. A lot longer. It starts off well with a lot of tension, but it slows down in its pace, and I predict that many may switch off at this point. The good news, though, is that Prey picks up again and draws the audience in. However, the film continues to drop and then pick up. It’s one of the reasons that Prey feels longer than it actually is.
Maybe those who have more knowledge of the biggest German actors and actresses may recognise the cast from other movies/tv shows, but I personally really enjoyed not knowing any of the cast. Not being familiar with any of the cast makes the thrills in Prey more believable.
The cast themselves play very well-written characters. Clearly, there’s a lot of history between the characters; and that proves to be one of the highlights in Prey. The flashbacks placed within the plot demonstrate the history. However, one does wonder how effective the flashbacks really were? Were they really necessary?
Despite being labelled a thriller, there are not as many thrills as you would expect from this kind of film. With a survival thriller in the woods, drastically overdone in a high number of films, the premise, therefore, doesn’t come across as original. But if you don’t mind that, Prey might be more enjoyable than it is for some.
The ending may not be to everyone’s taste, but overall, this survival thriller has just enough to keep the audience entertained throughout its run-time. Anyone who wants a movie with extra spark or excitement may need to look elsewhere.
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