Writer and Director Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands opens on the Home World of the Yautja, the Predator Race. The Yautja are strong human-like creatures with tentacle dreads and 4 sharp talons covering their face. Older brother Kwei, played by Stefan Grube, trains his little brother Dek, played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, for his upcoming warrior trials.
Their Father, also played by Dimitrius, disrupts their training. He commands Kwei, “Kill him!” Dek is deemed the “runt”, small and weak. The Yautja do not tolerate weakness. As Dek kneels bound in the force field, Kwei raises his proton sword. He says, “Be brave, Brother.”
Instead, Kwei frees Dek with his sword strike. Then he attacks their Father. In their vicious fight, Father kills valiant Kwei. Before he died, Kwei programmed his spaceship to take Dek to planet Genna, the Badlands, for his escape. On Genna, Dek must take the indestructible beast Kalisk as trophy to restore his honor with the Yautja. Grieving Dek wants revenge on his Father, who murdered Kwei, his big brother, his protector.
I believe in the Predator or Yautja mythology, the Yautja are apex predators, who adapt to their environment. In the Badlands, Dek uses his proton swords, spear, and freezing spheres. No guns. Genna is the deadly planet with sharp glass grass, poisonous spores, and varying killer beasts.
Dek rescues blonde Synthetic (Synth), android Thia, played by Elle Fanning, trapped in the Genna vulture’s nest. Although missing her legs, Thia kills the giant vulture attacking Dek. Thia’s lower body was torn off when the Kalisk killed her mission crew from Earth.
Dek tells Thia that he’s on Genna to make the Kalisk his trophy in his Yautja rites of passage. Having extensively studied the Yautja, Thia is familiar. She vehemently warns, “You’re hunting something that can’t be killed.” Kalisk is the T-Rex like beast with limitless regenerative powers. Dek reminds, “I am prey to none.” Dek carries Thai’s torn torso like a backpack. Dan Trachtenberg and Patrick Alison’s screenplay and story is humorously nuanced amidst the violent chaos.
Green, big eyed, cuddly creature Bud, played Ravi Narayan, who’s impervious to the sharp glass grass, saves Thia and Dek. In the sweet narrative arc, Thia, Dek, and Bud sit at the campfire eating some animal Dek killed. Comically, Bud tries to steal a piece of food. Thia doesn’t eat, because she’s a Synth, a robot. Strangely, touchingly they are family.
Thia thought she lost her “sister” Tessa, also played by Elle, in the Kalisk attack. However, Weyland-Yutani Corporation (from the Alien movies) repairs Tessa back into operation. Unlike Thia, Tessa’s singularly programmed to capture the Kalisk for its off the charts regenerative commercial application, and kill Yautja Dek. Yeah, Tessa is ruthless evil. In this narrative, Bud’s mother is the Kalisk. Like how Dek’s Father murdered his beloved brother Kwei, Thia and Bud are betrayed by their original family in some way. Touchingly, Bud spits on Dek to make him, Kalisk. And Dek spits on Bud to make him, Yautja. Dek helps Thia retrieve her legs. They help each other become whole. That’s what family does.
In the poignant narrative arc, after Dek rescues Thia, they recover at a waterfall. Strong gentle Elle Fanning’s Thia tells Dek, “On Earth, there’s a predator known as the wolf. They hunt in packs. Their leader is the Alpha. The Alpha isn’t the wolf who kills the most. He’s the one, who best protects the pack… You rescued me.” I cried.
That eloquently makes Dan Trachtenberg and Patrick Alison’s Predator: Badlands sublime. Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning are uniquely Human and Badass with their brutal martial arts skills in battle. Yet, the true warrior is the protector.
Aikido Founder O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba said, “The way of the warrior is to give life to all things, reconcile the world, and foster the completion of everyone’s journey.” Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning as Dek and Thia authentically embody the warrior spirit of the Protector in Badlands. They’re the Alpha of Badlands. That makes Predator: Badlands surprisingly something very special. It’s one of the best movies of the year. It’s one of my favorite movies of 2025.
