Predator: Badlands
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Writer: Patrick Aison, Dan Trachtenberg
Sequel to: the Predator movies
Cast: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Ravi Narayan, Chris Terhune, Michael Homik, Stefan Grube, Reuben de Jong
Seen on: 25.7.2026

Plot:
Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) has never fit in with his Yautja (aka Predator) family. Considered the runt and therefore lesser, he desperately wants to prove himself to his father (Reuben de Jong). Instead he has to face exile and loss of what is most important to him. Stranded on another planet, he decides to hunt for a quasi mythical beast to show them. There he finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged android.

I had heard good things about Predator: Badlands, and after Prey, I was pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, though, it never really won me over.

I can’t discount the possibility that I just caught the movie on the wrong day, or it caught me on the wrong day, but I bounced off it pretty instantly and never found my way back in. I can’t really put my finger on why, because there is nothing overtly wrong with it, but there was definitely something about the way it handles gender and disability that seemed a little off.

I am all here for exploring masculinity and the film certainly approaches that topic with the narrative about Dek not being warrior enough for his family (especially since he is positioned next to the physically somewhat incapable Thia for most of the film). But in the end, there is no questioning of the value of warriorlike masculinity, just an expansion of who might be considered a warrior.

Additionally, the way the story handles Thia also rubbed me wrong. She is disabled, having lost her lower body, and depends on Dek physically. The film does a good job in showing that she contributes to their partnership and isn’t just a talking obstacle for Dek to overcome. At the same time, of course the movie heals her at the end, because disability isn’t allowed in a happy end. (That being said, Elle Fanning in her double role was pretty great.)

But those gripes were not clear at the beginning and I was already checked out of the film when I realized where the story was going. Action-wise, the film is far from bad and it even has a cute creature. And yet, it went past me without much of an impression.

Summarizing: didn’t work for me.