Predator: Badlands (2025)

The Predator franchise has had a long and uneven road since the original 1987 film planted its flag as one of the defining action-science fiction pictures of its era. After a run of sequels and crossovers that ranged from enjoyable enough to fairly painful, the series seemed to find its footing again with a change of approach: smaller in scope, more focused in storytelling, and far less reliant on nostalgia as a crutch. Predator: Badlands (2025), produced by 20th Century Studios alongside Lawrence Gordon Productions and Davis Entertainment, continues that trajectory. The premise takes a fresh angle on the Yautja mythology, following a young Predator cast out from his clan who forms an unlikely partnership with a damaged android, the two of them setting out across hostile terrain in search of what amounts to the ultimate test of worth. It is the sort of concept that could easily tip into self-parody, but the production appears to have taken it seriously as a piece of science fiction world-building rather than simply an excuse for set pieces.

Dan Trachtenberg returns to direct, which is reason enough to pay attention. His Prey (2022) was widely credited with rescuing the franchise from irrelevance, and he also helmed Predator: Killer of Killers (2025), so at this point he has built something close to a sustained creative vision around these films, which is not something many directors can claim within an established action franchise. The human anchor here is Elle Fanning, playing the android at the centre of the story. Fanning, who appeared in A Complete Unknown (2024), has a quality that tends to work well in genre material: a kind of watchful stillness that can read as either warmth or unease depending on the scene, which suits an android character rather well. Alongside her, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Ravi Narayan, Michael Homick and Stefan Grube round out the principal cast, with the film running at a fairly lean 107 minutes, which suggests Trachtenberg has kept the pacing disciplined. The tagline, "First hunt. Last chance," does what franchise taglines do, but it does at least point toward a story with genuine stakes built around its central outsider figure rather than simply promising carnage.

Predator Badlands, following on from Killer Kills and Prey makes me think we might actually be back to the best for the predator series.... What starts off as a rocky "monster of the week" type Mandalorian story, it soon develops into a story of alliances, betrayal and creating your own clan rather than trying to fit in with one that doesn't deserve you. The visuals are great and it's nice to finally see some Yautja lore.

For me, that sense of the series finding a genuine creative direction again is what sticks. There is something refreshing about a franchise entry that seems more interested in where these creatures come from and how their society works than in simply putting a human cast in front of the mandibles. The android-and-outcast pairing gives the film a character engine that earns its quieter moments, and when the mythology pays off, it feels like it has actually been thought through rather than bolted on. Whether the series can keep this quality consistent across further entries is another question entirely, but right now, the goodwill is well earned. Sometimes it just takes the right director deciding to treat the material with a bit of respect.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 2025  | Watched: 2026-04-06

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Predator: Badlands (2025) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
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Stream: Hulu
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More from Dan Trachtenberg: Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) · Prey (2022)
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More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)