Dan Trachtenberg – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

PREDATOR: BADLANDS – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

November 13, 2025November 17, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin Dan Trachtenberg, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, elle fanning, hulu, Michael Homik, Patrick Aison, Predator: Badlands

This is director Dan Trachtenberg’s third Predator-related film after Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers. Predator: Badlands deserves its theatrical release, especially in IMAX, where viewers can appreciate the special effects team’s impressive work and intricate fight choreography. The planet is rich with color and texture, deceptively inviting with glass that glistens like ice and slices like razors, vines with teeth and minds of their own, and maimed creatures that somehow regenerate.

Festivals Reviews

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS (Tribeca 2025) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

June 16, 2025June 16, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin Dan Trachtenberg, Joshua Wassung, Lindsay LaVanchy, Louis Ozawa, Michael Biehn, Predator: Killer of Killers, Rick Gonzalez, Tribeca 2025

Broken into three stories roughly twenty minutes each that eventually connect, the film follows three fierce fighters: a Viking mother in 841 A.D., a ninja in 1609 Japan whose twin brother is a samurai, and a draftee from Miami itching to be a pilot alongside a seasoned ace. Each has their own quest and desires yet also encounters a Predator, one of the same alien species from the original action film who hunts other species for sport. Here, the aliens’ purpose is to observe and learn from these various fighters, all to win the ultimate title in their home arena: Killer of Killers.

Reviews

PREY – Review by Brandy McDonnell

August 9, 2022August 16, 2022 Brandy McDonnell Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dan Trachtenberg, hulu, Jhane Myers, Michelle Thrush, predator, Prey

The long-running Predator film franchise goes back in time and gets back to basics with its lean, mean and thrilling new prequel, Prey. Set in 1719 on the Northern Great Plains of the Comanche Nation, the latest installment of the bloody sci-fi series introduces a hero worth rooting for in Naru (Amber Midthunder), a would-be Comanche warrior. Prey marks another step in the right direction in film and television representation of Indigenous peoples. Produced by Jhane Myers, a Comanche and Blackfeet artist, dancer and filmmaker who hails from Oklahoma, the movie boasts a cheer-worthy Indigenous hero, authentically recreates 18th-century Comanche culture and celebrates the warrior spirit and fighting style of Native Americans.

Reviews

PREY – Review by Susan Granger

August 3, 2022August 4, 2022 Susan Granger Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dan Trachtenberg, Diliegro, Patrick Aison, Prey

It has been 35 years since the original sci-fi action thriller Predator (1987) was released – and Prey is a worthy complement to the franchise. Set in 1719 in the Comanche Nation on the rugged Northern Great Plains, the story revolves around wannabe warrior Naru, who is determined to be recognized by her tribe as a hunter like her skeptical older brother Taabe “Why do you want to hunt?” inquires her mother. “Because you all think I can’t,” Naru replies.