PREY : Monday 20th September 2021.

With Greater Sydney still in COVID lockdown now until the end of September at least, and as a result all cinema's closed until sometime after this date, I've been reviewing recently some the latest feature films released onto Netflix. One such film that I watched from the comfort of my own sofa at home this week is the German thriller 'PREY' which is Written and Directed by Thomas Sieben. This is Sieben's fourth feature film following 2009's 'Distanz', 2013's 'Staudamm' and 2018's 'Kidnapping Stella' and was released to Netflix on 10th September having generated mostly negative press along the way.

The film opens up with a young couple swimming underwater in the crystal clear ocean, and kissing before rising to the surface. We then cut to two canoe's occupied by five men, as the group idly paddle down a stream surrounded by dense forest, and taking in the sights and sounds of the beautiful woodland around them. They come to an embankment, get out of the canoe's and then all frolic in the stream, as good mates do. It seems that the group of five friends are on a bachelor party for Roman (Davis Kross) who was the man seen swimming in the opening scene, and who is soon to be married. The others in the group are his older brother Albert (Hanno Koffler), Peter (Robert Finster), Vincent (Yung Ngo) and Stefan (Klaus Steinbacher). After getting out of the water Stefan has already set a fire as the men warm themselves and take in the sun. Suddenly the serenity of their surroundings is disturbed as a gunshot rings out, somewhere in the distance but close enough for the men to take heed. Dismissing it as someone on a hunting trip, they continue their idle chatter.

Stefan suggests a hike up to a look out where they can take in the sweeping vistas of the forest for as far as the eye can see. Stefan knows the forest as his father used to take him hiking there when he was much younger, so he knows the lay of the land reasonably well. After taking in the views the group amble back down to where their car was parked and head on to their next destination. 

Stefan arrives at the car opens up the boot, with Vincent trailing behind. A gun shot rings out aimed in their direction and the four men all cower behind the vehicle. Vincent remains standing at the edge of the clearing. He then realises that he has been shot in the upper arm and begins to panic. He is retrieved to the safety of their parked car, and Stefan bandages up his arm. Another shot rings out shattering a car window, and then another taking out a tyre. Left defenceless and exposed and no way of getting the hell outta Dodge, the five men decide to make a dash to the trees from whence they came. 

The men continue running for their lives until such time they decide to rest up and take stock of their situation. Stefan says that they should head for a roadway that is further away than the photograph he took from the lookout earlier would suggest. The group agree. Traipsing through the undergrowth, they eventually come across a woman standing down by the rivers edge with her back turned towards them. Stefan calls out to the woman but she is unresponsive. He calls again, and once more before the woman turns around to face them. She takes two steps forward, reaches down and picks up a rifle from the ground and plugs a bullet right between Stefan's eyes. The other four turn on their heels and run for cover, as more shots are fired in their direction. 

Evading the bullets the group of now four men come across a small general store and information kiosk in the forest. A young woman stands behind the counter as Albert attempts to explain their predicament and asks if there is a phone with which they can call the Police. The connection is ad hoc replies the woman but Albert is successful is dialling the Police and as he begins his conversation the woman is shot in the head from outside the window. Several more shots are fired in their direction, as the men cower for cover. Vincent meanwhile has taken another shot to the neck, and is crawling towards Roman and Albert holding on to his neck that is spurting blood. A final shot to the head finishes him off. The remaining three make a dash for it out of the back door running for cover in the trees once again. In doing so Albert stumbles and badly twists his ankle. 

Resting up momentarily Peter surveys Alberts badly twisted and now swelling ankle. They continue walking eventually finding the road. This leads them down into a long deserted campsite where A-frame cabins and children's playgrounds once bristled with life. They rest up. It turns out that Peter is Albert's business partner in a company that that they formed some years ago, and into which Roman is on the promise of a job subject to Board approval which is expected to come through before the wedding. Peter suggests that Albert remain at the camp because he can hardly walk, to which Albert takes umbrage and a fist fight breaks out between the pair, with Roman having to intervene. Peter walks off choosing to go it alone, leaving Albert sat feeling sorry for himself, and Roman disgusted by his older brothers attitude and behaviour. Roman walks off too, and comes across a long cabin that appears to be open and lived in. He gingerly ventures inside, having seen a makeshift memorial in the garden to an Anna. On a computer screen he sees a video clip of the shooter Eva (Maria Ehrich) down by the waters edge in the same spot as Stefan was killed. Eva is holding her baby. A drunken hunter is seen stumbling towards her carrying a rifle. Eva attempts to intervene and ward off the hunter and in the ensuing fracas a shot is fired which kills her baby. 

Roman returns to Albert and the pair struggle onward with their journey. Meanwhile Peter has reached the road again. Rounding a bend in the road Peter comes face to face with Eva. She shoots him in the leg, sending him backwards. She slowly motions towards him as Peter attempts to crawl away. He turns around as she plugs him with another shot to his other leg. Peter pleads with her saying that he has money, lots of money, if that's what she wants. She fires another round into his left shoulder, then another into his right shoulder, and then a final one between the eyes. From a distance Roman and Albert see Peter's dead body on the ground and Eva standing over him. 

The pair head off in the opposite direction. A short while later they see Eva tracking them but believe that she has not seen them. They stand motionless observing her before gingerly moving on, at which point Eva turns and fires in their direction, landing a bullet wound to Albert's shoulder. Now bleeding, with a badly twisted ankle and semi-conscious Roman and Albert rest up. Albert falls into a slumber, and Roman retrieves Albert's mobile phone from his pocket. There is no signal of course, but using Albert's thumb print to unlock his phone, he scrolls through his images and text messages. There he sees an image of Lisa (Livia Matthes) the woman swimming with Roman in the opening scene, and whom Roman is set to be married to. It turns out that Albert had an affair with Lisa recently as is seen in flashbacks throughout the film of their beachside holiday. When Albert comes round Roman is standoffish with his brother and asks him about Lisa. Albert says it just happened by accident and meant nothing, at which point Roman lands a punch squarely on Albert's jaw, and leaves.

Roman sees Eva in the distance heading off in the opposite direction. He decides to follow, but not before dragging Albert into the relative safety of a rocky overhang and out of sight. He pulls out Albert's pocket knife, cuts a square out of Albert's vest, folds it several times and presses it to his brothers shoulder wound. He returns to where he saw Eva walking towards, and enters a cave, in which is Peter's dead body and the bodies of two other slain victims. He climbs a makeshift ladder which emerges on top of a rocky outcrop at which Eva is standing gun raised looking out over a cliff edge through the sight of her rifle. Roman approaches with knife drawn, and comes within a few metres of Eva who turns with rifle raised. A standoff ensues in which Roman is shot in the leg. He then explains that he has seen the video and he knows what happened to baby Anna. He asks her to stop, and she momentarily lowers the rifle. At which point Roman lashes out with his other leg disarming Eva and the pair fight. Ultimately Roman gains the upper hand and has control of the rifle. He raises it and momentarily considers pulling the trigger but instead tosses the rifle away. Eva slowly backs away, one step, two steps, and then falls backwards over the edge of the cliff to her death some thirty or forty metres below. Roman sits down on the edge of the cliff, relieved that its all over.

Let me tell you that 'Prey' is no 'Deliverance'! I saw this film, which is overdubbed into English, and the one good thing about it, is its short running time at just 87 minutes. Too many questions get left unanswered, such as why is this lone sharpshooting woman picking off random guys in the forest aside from the fact that she's clearly now got it in for every male weekend warrior hiker in her neck of the woods; does Albert and/or Roman get out alive; what's her motivation for playing cat and mouse with these men when she could have popped them off all in one go; and as for a compelling back story that makes these characters relatable - forgeddaboudid! As a survival thriller in the woods you have seen this done hundreds of times before more often than not more effectively, and as such 'Prey' offers up nothing new or original. But, if that's your cup of tea then by all means go for it, and as one of the friends in the movie says to another whilst being stalked by an unknown assailant 'Who says it has to make sense?' . . . . . well he certainly got that right!

'Prey' merits one clap of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-