Predator: Badlands (2025)
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A young Yautja outcast must survive a deadly planet and forge an unlikely alliance with an android to prove his worth.
The story
Dek, a young Yautja outcast known as a runt, is cast out by his clan and forced to crash-land on the hostile 'death planet' Genna. After losing most of his equipment in the crash, he finds himself in a desperate struggle against the planet's dangerous flora and fauna. To survive and fulfill his destiny of hunting the apex predator known as the Kalisk, Dek is forced into an uneasy alliance with Thia, a damaged Weyland-Yutani Corporation android. Together, the unlikely pair must navigate the treacherous environment of Genna, while being hunted by both the local predators and a retrieval team seeking the same powerful creature.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being cast out by his clan leader, Njohrr, for being a 'runt,' Dek is sent to the death planet Genna. He crashes on the planet and meets Thia, a damaged Weyland-Yutani android. They are joined by a creature named Bud. While Thia's 'sister' Tessa and a Weyland-Yutani team search for the Kalisk—an apex predator with regenerative powers—Dek and Thia are forced to work together. After a failed attempt to fight the Kalisk alone, Dek is captured by Tessa's team. Thia helps him escape, and they eventually infiltrate the Weyland-Yutani base. During a final confrontation, the Kalisk is freed and consumes Tessa, while Dek defeats her in the fray. Later, Dek returns to Yautja Prime, where he defeats his father in a duel and claims his own equipment, eventually reuniting with his mother.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 107
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Dan Trachtenberg
- Writers
- Patrick Aison · screenplay; Patrick Aison · story; Dan Trachtenberg · story
- Cast and characters
- Elle Fanning · Thia, a damaged Weyland-Yutani Corporation synthetic who partners with Dek; Elle Fanning · Tessa, a Weyland-Yutani synthetic and Thia's "sister" who opposes her and Dek; Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi · Dek, a young Yautja outcast for being a runt; Reuben de Jong · Njohrr, Dek and Kwei's father and leader of their clan, who believes Dek should be culled because he is a runt; Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi · the voice of Njohrr; Mike Homik · Kwei, Dek's protective older brother, who helps him prepare for his first hunt; Stefan Grube · the voice of Kwei; Rohinal Narayan · Bud, a creature of the planet Genna; Cameron Brown · Smyth and other male Weyland-Yutani drone synthetics; Alison Wright · the voice of MU/TH/UR, the A.I. overseer of Weyland-Yutani and Tessa's superior
- Genres
- science fiction; action
- Themes
- survival; identity; alliance
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; gritty
- Premise and plot tags
- predator-centric; sci-fi; androids
- Franchise connections
- Predator
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was praised for its creature design and the performance of its lead actress.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 71 · scale: 100 · review count: 43; PostTrak · score: 78% · scale: percent; The Telegraph · score: 4 · scale: 5; IGN · score: 8 · scale: 10
- Production trivia
- The film features a protagonist who is a Predator rather than an antagonist.; A specific language for the Predators was developed for the film by linguist Britton Watkins.; The film is the first in the mainline Predator series to receive a PG-13 rating.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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