With a spate of hidden gems in the creature feature horror movie niche like Unwelcome and The Tank, Prey 2024 offers a pack of lions who get to cohabitate with the contents of a crashed plane.
Written and directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil who also penned The Immaculate Room, Prey is less of a lion-chomping assault on the senses and more just a story of survival. You could describe Prey 2024 as a low-key thriller that includes lions.
Despite wanting the aforementioned white-knuckled tension-filled story about some people trying to stay alive while there are lions about, I would have also settled for a good narrative. Unfortunately, this is a title that doesn’t like to give and managed to barely exceed being a watchable movie.
What Happened?
Andrew (Ryan Phillippe) and Sue are missionaries in the Kalahari Desert. When push comes to shove a terrorist group takes it upon themselves to commence taking out their anger on tourists. In a rush to flee from danger, they have to find a way out and follow a shady guy called Grun (Emile Hirsch.)
“This plane is overweight.”
Quote from Prey 2024
Pulling from a mixed bag of film tropes like having to leave your belongings behind, shady pilots, and rickety planes, the peril of not knowing any of the characters is shortened when the plane goes down. A few of the passengers die or are injured but what’s important is that the plane is split in two allowing anything interesting happening on the ground to be out of shot.
As for the lions, there are close-ups of a range of different animals. There are buzzards overhead and plenty of remote aerial drone footage to hone in on the desperate scenario underfoot. Scenic shots of lions walking, or strolling lazily against the sunset are often forged as a backdrop for the group’s plight. There isn’t a whole lot of cheetah or big cat action on screen aside from that however.
Mena Suvari Stars In Prey 2024
Early on, Sue (Mena Suvari) becomes the main person of interest when some truly awful first aid is attempted after she is trapped by plane wreckage under a chair. Instead of helping free her, the men manage to rip her leg open trying to yank her out. Then they can’t stop the bleeding either and continue making a mess of her ability to survive.
After that the group flips coins and argue about what to do next. The group knows they are in Ngala Big Game Reserve but they have no equipment, no radio, and no way of knowing which direction to go for rescue. They do, however, head off anyway with varied results that are mostly hinged on the walkers lack of water.
By the time what’s left of the rescue group returns, Sue is dead and Andrew is a little bit angry. A weird survival pact evolves regarding the only safe place in the surrounding desert as night approaches. With some fleeting off-screen action, a long sequence involving why keeping the free alight is a good idea, a snake, and a cockpit full of survivors, Prey holds its remaining showmanship for the final moments of the title.
An undercurrent of religious tonal anecdotes is scattered throughout the dialogue, weighing in more heavily at the end of the film.
There is some ongoing drama after the final lion and cockpit showdown involving a near rescue and an out-of-character display of heroics by Grun.
Ultimately though, Prey turns to God when deciding who to save. If that’s your type of movie with lions, then you’ll probably like this too.
Prey 2024 is rated
2 The last man standing gets out alive out of 5
Prey 2014 Trailer
Watch the movie (distributed by Vertical Entertainment) on many streaming platforms via the link below.
Prey 2024 is streaming on:
Prey 2024
Director: Mukunda Michael Dewil
Date Created: 2024-03-15 20:25
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