Predator: Badlands
Hey everyone, and welcome, today, we will be talking about the film Predator Badlands. Fun Fact: The Duffer Brothers’ voices can be heard because they voice a computer on the Yautja's ship. If you don’t know who they are, they created the show Stranger Things. This movie came out in 2025 and stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Elle Fanning, and Ravi Narayan, and was directed by Dan Trachtenberg. So, without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Predator Badlands tells the story of Dek, who aims to prove that he is not a weak link in his tribe by going to kill the feared Kalisk. After Dek witnesses his father killing his brother, his goal is to bring back the Kalisk but also kill his dad.
Predator: Badlands is an action-adventure movie on a planet filled with dangerous aliens and robots. This movie is similar to Prey, Alien: Earth, or Avatar.
Dan Trachtenberg directed Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, which have become my favorites in this franchise. I feel like under his direction, he has given more understanding to the Yautja, as well as creating captivating movies, with Badlands being the most recent. I was excited to see this because of his past with these films, the focus on the Yautja, and the incorporation of Weyland-Yutani.
Dan has constantly shown that Yautja are not all the same, and this film further shows that with Dek and reminds us that the predators are called Yautja. It’s wild that this is the first predator where we find out their name. He is seen as a Runt and tries so hard to prove everyone wrong. As the film goes on, you see how he tries to complete this mission alone, but he very slowly realizes from Thia that he needs help, and that’s ok. Thia is a Weyland-Yutani Synth, and if that sounds familiar, they are the company that is always hunting Xenomorphs in the Alien franchise and has very little regard for human life. Weyland-Yutani being there made his mission more complicated because they had the same target, and Weyland-Yutani Syths always want to complete the mission no matter what. When he tried to kill the Kalisk, and it kept healing itself even after he cut its head off, I just knew that mission wasn’t going to happen for him. I’m glad by the end that he saves Bud, who is a baby Kalisk, Thia, and Bud’s mom, and goes home with Bud and Thia to challenge his father and wins. I loved that Dimitrius actually learned how to speak the language in the film, as well as doing all the physical stuff.
Elle Fanning plays two synths: Thia, who is kinder and interested to learn more, and Tessa, who is trying to finish the mission. I love how, during the movie, Thia shows everything she learned and gives Dek so much info on how to survive on this planet. I love how she initially convinces Dek to bring her along by saying she’s a utility. I thought Tessa would be the same, but she’s more hellbent on finishing the mission and is dangerous. I love the subtle style differences and personality differences so we could identify her. I thought Thia would be able to convince her to help, but she followed her program. In the end, she met her match, but she was a good foe.
Bud was the character I didn’t know I needed. It’s funny because I would have never guessed that Bud was a baby Kalisk from the encounters with her. Bud is not only adorable but very formidable in battle. I love the scene of her mocking Dek and how they eventually form an unbreakable bond. At the end, I was sad about Bud’s mom, but I hope that she can come back from that explosion. When we get back to Deks’ home, Bud seems like a teen, and it would have been interesting to see how long it’s been, so we can see how fast they grow. I hope we get more Dek in the future and see it fight more.
There are so many deadly things we meet on this planet, and I just love how it’s basically a death trap. I think it’s perfect to show how predators adapt to survive, even if that is partnering up with something that is knowledgeable of the planet. It was nice to know that there are planets where the Yautja aren’t the strongest ones.
My favorite part was Dek using all he learned about this planet from Thia to save her and the Kalisk with Bud's help. He didn’t have his own weapons, so it was cool to see him use what nature on that planet provided. It was impressive to see how he was able to come up with so many different ways to utilize stuff on the planet and how to safely protect himself from getting harmed. He even made a new friend in the process. I just think it further shows how Yautja don’t only kill a lot, but they are also great at planning a way to take out enemies that doesn’t involve them exerting all their energy fighting.
Predator: Badlands is a great addition to the franchise, and I think Dan Trachtenberg has breathed new life into the franchise. It gives us a predator-fronted story that is interesting as we learn more about them, but also shows once again how even in unfamiliar places, they come out on top. I’m interested to see the future of the franchise and if some stories will start to tie together.
