In the modern landscape of IP dominated filmmaking, sometimes you get a director who comes along and infuses life into a long existing property. They take what has made the property work all these years and use that to craft new stories and new approaches to this particular universe. While this approach is not always successful, the ones who do succeed with subverting expectations of a pre-existing film property tend to create memorable and lasting works. Director Dan Trachtenberg was given the keys to the “Predator” kingdom with his 2022 film, “Prey”, and succeeded in presenting a fresh approach to a seemingly tired franchise. Trachtenberg’s explorations of what a “Predator” film can be continues with 2025’s “Predator: Badlands”, a film that makes an actual Predator its protagonist in a story about overcoming one’s toxic family. 

“Predator: Badlands” focuses on Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a Yautja, (The actual name of the race of Predators, so I’ll be using this term going forward) who is a seemingly weak member of his family. Dek is afforded a level of tough love and protection from his brother Kwei (Mike Homik), but that is not the case when it comes to Njohrr (Also Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi due to the wonders of special effects), Dek’s own father. Njohrr wants Kwei to kill Dek and eliminate this level of weakness from the clan. Kwei refuses and fights his own father instead of killing his brother. You can probably see what happens next before Dek is sent on a ship to the plant Genna. On the planet Genna, Dek sets out to find the Kalisk, an unkillable predator, in the attempt to bring it back to his homeward as a trophy and a way to prove himself to his father. The Kalisk is not the only thing that could kill Dek on Genna. Genna is brimming with lifeforms of all types that are designed to kill anything that approaches. The entire planet is a predator, and Dek must try not to become prey. 

While Dek navigates the dangers of Genna, he comes across a damaged Weyland-Yutani Corporation (Yes - this film fully embraces the universe “Predator” movies share with the movies in the “Alien” franchise) synthetic named Thia (Elle Fanning). Due to a little persistent convincing by Thia, Dek takes her on as a “tool” to help him navigate Genna and find the Kalisk. Thia knows about the Kalisk because her mission was to find it as well. It seems the Weyland-Yutani Corporation cannot resist the temptation of deadly creatures anywhere in the galaxy, so they sent a team of synths to retrieve the beast from Genna. The Kalisk, of course, objected to their plans and caused massive damage to the team, Thia included. It also caused damage to her identical twin “sister”, Tessa (Also played by Elle Fanning). Tessa does not share the same compassion and enthusiasm possessed by Thia, and she coldly tries to execute her mission of finding the Kalisk and now finding Dek, the lone Yautja on Genna. 

With this basic plot description, I am sure one can deduce the crux of the story for “Predator: Badlands”. The odd-couple of Dek and Thia will bond, Thia and Tessa’s “family bonds” will be tested, and Dek will use his skills as a Yautja to overcome everything Genna throws at him in an effort to kill him. You would be 100% correct in assuming all of this, including an added Disney-level element of a young creature nicknamed “Bud”, who joins Dek and Thia’s journey. The “Baby Yoda” thoughts will most certainly be running through the heads of the audience when Bud appears, but, thankfully, the creature does have a strong importance to the overall story. It is an importance that is easily deduced, but it is an importance nonetheless. 

Trachtenberg’s direction keeps “Predator: Badlands” from falling into a trap of mundane nothingness. Even though the story is relatively boilerplate, he gives the audience plenty of time to see and experience the wilds of Genna. He makes the effort to show the dangers of the planet, how the creatures have adapted to these conditions, and, ultimately, how Dek can adapt and use these conditions to his benefit. All of the dangers present on Genna can be beneficial to someone like Dek, a member of a race who uses all forms of technology to hunt and stalk prey. Trachtenberg also uses Genna and Dek’s “forced” interactions with Thia and Bud to make some commentary about the Yautja’s toxic nature. The film posits that the Yautja’s way of hunting alone and not having any use for teamwork is, well, incredibly flawed. There is a rather great scene where Thia uses the analogy of another type of hunter to get this through Dek’s thick skull.  Trachtenberg knows and understands the world of “Predator”, and he uses this to rightfully poke holes in the culture of the Yautja. 

Speaking of Thia, the other thing that keeps “Predator: Badlands” moving forward instead of wallowing in the quicksand of rehashed IP is Fanning’s dual performance. As Thia, she is constantly talking and asking Dek all sorts of questions. There is a childlike element to her personality while also providing some hilariously biting criticism of Dek’s methods. Thia, by nature, is genuinely curious, but she also knows the game on Genna. This “tool” knows more than Dek, and the arc of Dek realizing this, fueled by Fanning’s performance, gives the film a lot of its heart. On the flip side, Fanning’s performance as Tessa is cold and calculated. Tessa is the type of Weyland-Yutania Corporation synethic film audiences have come to know and expect by this point. She has a singular mission and will not allow her “sister” to get in the way of things. Fanning wonderfully plays both sides of the coin in “Predator: Badlands”, which is important considering Dek, the other major character, is under heavy makeup and speaks in a subtitled alien language. 

Fans of Trachtenberg’s work in “Prey” and fans of the “Predator” franchise as a whole should enjoy this new look into the world of the Yautja, their culture, and the criticism they produced. Some, of course, will bristle at these elements and complain in all the normal and tired ways about how Disney is “killing” a franchise with whatever attention seeking buzzwords are popular at the time. Those criticisms, as usual, should go unheard. “Predator: Badlands” is a fresh and needed approach to this franchise, and it is an approach that should ensure Trachtenberg has the creative control of this franchise for years to come. 

Predator: Badlands
(Dan Trachtenberg, 2025)
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