‘Predator: Badlands’ is a human story without a human in sight

Dan Trachtenberg’s “Predator: Badlands“ could be mistaken for a coming-of-age teen drama in space. Rejection, tragedy, doubt, and self-efficacy – it’s all here. To completely butcher a Britney Spears song, our Yautja protagonist, Dek (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), is not a boy, not yet a trophy hunter.

Seen as the runt of his clan, Dek has something to prove. He wants to assert himself as a top hunter and be accepted by his father, who is also his chief. As Schuster-Koloamatangi said in a press Q&A, hunting is how the Yautja gain status, much like how humans acquire money on Earth.

The following contains spoilers for “Predator: Badlands.”

Dek’s older brother Kwei (Mike Homik) harbors a quiet belief in Dek, but he knows the odds are firmly stacked against him. Especially after Dek chooses the planet Genna as his hunting ground and eyes the Kalisk as his prize.

Genna is widely recognized as one of the most dangerous planets in the entire galaxy, with everything in sight (including the unassuming plants and cute-as-a-button creatures) being potential threats. Then, there’s the Kalisk – an apex predator that’s apparently unkillable. According to Kwei, even their father fears the creature.

Before Dek’s hunt even begins, he gets dealt a confidence-shaking blow: His father reveals that he ordered Kwei to kill him because he has no faith in him succeeding as a hunter. He’s seen as a weakling, and he must be culled from the clan. Father offers Kwei a second chance to finish the assignment, but Kwei chooses to save his brother instead.

For his loyalty to his sibling, Kwei receives the unwelcome reward of being massacred in front of a helpless Dek. Kwei uses his last breath to send his brother to Genna, offering him a chance to at least attempt his first hunt.

Carrying a chip on his shoulder and anger in his heart about what happened to Kwei because of him, Dek barely survives his arrival in Genna. Reluctantly, he accepts the assistance of the creature Bud and damaged Weyland-Yutani synthetic Thia (Elle Fanning). Dek finds the Kalisk, but the rest of Weyland-Yutani’s synthetics – led by Tessa (also Elle Fanning) – swoop in, gathering the Kalisk for themselves and capturing Dek in the process. Thanks to Thia’s help, the Yautja escapes the corporation’s clutches, but he finds himself trapped on Genna with no tech and no hope.

It’s at this moment that the audience swears they hear the faint music from “The Lion King” when Mufasa appears to Simba in the clouds and urges him to remember who he is. Instead of Mufasa’s voice, though, it’s Thia’s that Dek hears, encouraging him to be the lone wolf.

This is the turning point of “Predator: Badlands,” as Dek accepts the cold, hard facts here. He isn’t like the other Yautja; he’s unique, and that makes him special in his own way. For too long, he sought to conform and be what they wanted him to be, in an attempt to gain their approval and entry into the Predator clubhouse. Yet, Kwei was the only one of his pack who offered him encouragement, and now he’s gone, and so are Dek’s chances of acceptance here. Dek is a Yautja outcast, but this doesn’t mean he’s alone in life. It’s a classic tale of accepting yourself and not conforming to what society expects of you. It’s Good Will Hunting, but with a lot more real hunting.

In Thia and Bud, Dek forms his own clan, proving that you can’t choose the family you’re born into, but you can choose the family you live with. While Dek’s father and clan members refused to help Dek with his rite of passage, Dek’s “new” family offered help from the get-go, expecting nothing of him in return.

What Thia and Bud receive is Dek’s undying loyalty. When the chips are down, Dek comes back for them, proving the killer instinct has always resided in him, and he didn’t need fancy tech or Yautja’s stamp of approval to unleash the warrior within. The spirit isn’t found in a hunt; it’s either in you or it’s not. In the past, Dek craved a sense of belonging and desperately wanted to fit in with the Yautja, but he’s now found his purpose – his people – in an unexpected foreign planet. He channels all of his ferociousness and violence to fight for them – not trophy – and discovers who he is and where he belongs.

Dek doesn’t succeed in claiming the Kalisk as a trophy – nor does he want to, as he gains respect for the creature that’s eventually destroyed by Tessa – but he returns to his home planet to confront his father. It’s a brutal homecoming, as Dek rejects his clan and claims revenge for what his father did to Kwei, but it is a cathartic moment for him and the audience. Dek is now free to fulfil his own destiny.

If “Predator: Badlands” sounds like a strange story for a Predator, that’s because it is. Traditionally, the species is portrayed as a villain in the series as it hunts down and skins humans for sport and prestige. Now, here’s Dek making friends with a synthetic and an intergalactic creature, cracking jokes about “tools,” and rejecting his Yautja clan.

Here’s the catch, though: Dek could still be the Predator who’ll skin a person alive and use their intestines as a necklace, but there isn’t a single human being present in this specific story to find out. It’s all flora, fauna, and synthetic. By doing this, Trachtenberg showcases how it’s possible to explore the duality of the Yautja without damaging the essence of the franchise by switching the character’s relationship with humankind. He also avoids having to rerun the “Predator gains respect for the human” arc from Alien vs. Predator. Dek isn’t above murder – not at all – so who knows how he would react if he encountered a human who rubs him up the wrong way?

No one sees themself as the villain of their own story, so it’s unlikely the Yautja view their actions as evil in the other Predator movies either. What Trachtenberg does well in “Predator: Badlands” is to show how the Yautja and humans aren’t so different after all, as everyone craves acceptance and belonging, but might be looking in the wrong place for it. Incredibly, the filmmaker succeeds in telling a deeply human story without a single human in sight, affirming that humanity – despite its name – isn’t only a human trait.

Maybe audiences will look differently at Dek and the Yautja from now on, seeing them as more than intergalactic big game hunters… or it’ll annoy just the purists who believe “Predator” should always be about the monstrous creature hunting down macho men in the forest and everyone trying to get to the chopper. For our part, we’re glad to see a deeper answer to Dutch’s question, “What the hell are you?”

“Predator: Badlands” hits theaters worldwide on November 7. The rest of the Predator movies, including Dan Trachtenberg’s “Prey”, can be found on Hulu (US) or Disney+ (UK).