Warning: Full spoilers for Prey follow. Want to know if there is a subtitled scene? We’ll tell you right here. There is something like. Read on for all these details.
If he’s bleeding, we can kill him. Hulu’s Prey takes The Predator way back in time, pitting one of the galaxy’s greatest hunters against Comanche warriors in the 1700s. A new time period, the same deadly Predator stalking the most challenging hunt he can find. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, Prey tells the story of Earth’s first predator hunt. And we’re here to break down the ending and dive into the Easter eggs we spotted in this epic adventure!
Prey movie ending explained
The year is 1719 in the Northern Great Plains, and a Predator has been left here on Earth to find and hunt down the planet’s apex predator – you know, pretty standard Predator-esque stuff.
And in fact, the main story in Prey is also a pretty standard Predator-esque story, in a good way – a ferocious human warrior uses his wits and environment to hunt down and kill a deadly alien warrior whose sole purpose for being there is to hunt and kill. As we have mentioned in full Prey review, the film takes Predator back to its roots. It’s all about the hunt.
Our protagonist is Naru (played by Amber Midthunder), a Comanche warrior and hunter whose family seems to think she should leave the hunting to the boys. As our protagonist, she is the one who begins to understand that there is something out there in the forest that may be haunting her tribe. She is also the one who eventually figures out how to defeat the Predator, and it involves a breed of orange flowers that, when consumed, can lower a person’s body temperature enough to not be detected by the Predator’s heat vision.
Every science fiction film ever nominated for Best Picture
The final battle begins when Naru and her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) confront the Predator. Taabe hangs around for a while, but you know these Predator fights are all fun and games until someone gets impaled. Which is exactly what happens.
After a brief escape, Naru prepares for the final confrontation, eating a bouquet of the flowers while using a trap as bait to lure the Predator. This allows Naru to use a special gun (more on that gun below) to mount a moon roof to the back of the alien’s head. She then steals the Predator’s helmet, which is different from the helmets we’ve seen Predators wear in the past, but helps guide his long-range projectiles.
As the alien chases after her (the roof of the moon wasn’t enough), Naru attacks from above, injuring him further. She ends up driving him into the swamp, which slows him down long enough for Naru to deliver the killing blow, using the bone helmet to redirect the alien’s aimed projectile bolts so that they end up in his own forehead.
So just like in other installments of the Predator franchise, the victorious hunter must figure out how the alien technology works and how to find ways to defeat it. This precedent was set way back in Predator 1, and Naru’s plan mirrors what Dutch does in this movie, which is in the future of this movie. Got it?
But it’s all because of those orange flowers. So apparently they let Naru do the same thing that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutchman does in Predator 1 when he covers himself in mud to lower his body temperature and avoid that Predator’s scanners and vision.
Finally, after defeating the Predator, Naru cuts off his head and takes it back to his village. She is celebrated as a warrior and warns her people of the dangers brought by both the alien and the trap she has encountered.
End Credits Scene Loot
During the first set of end credits, an animated retelling of the film’s events unfolds. It’s really cool, but the last thing we see is a shot of the Predator ships emerging from a group of clouds… right above the Comanche camp. Does this mean that Naru and her people are doomed after all? Or maybe just a sequel with these characters in the works? Time will tell!
Foil Easter eggs
There were two big references to previous Predator movies that we picked up in Prey.
The first is a reference to one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous lines from the first film, when the same line is said by Taabe: “If he’s bleeding, we can kill him.”
And of course the other big one is a reference to Predator 2. It’s that gun that Naru throws at the elders…after also throwing the Predator’s head. This is the same gun with the same inscription that Danny Glover receives as a reward for killing his own Predator 300 years later. Now, that means that at some point the Predators must have returned to Earth to retrieve that gun, so… Fun easter egg? You bet. Bad news for Naru and her tribe? A lot.
What do you think of Prey? What other time periods do you want to see the next Predator franchise in? Let’s discuss in the comments!
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