INTERVIEW: Amber Midthunder Talks Power, the Predator, and More for ‘Prey’

Prey is the kind of movie that will make everyone happy in one way or another. If you’re a fan of the Predator movies, you’ll love this new introduction to the species, and if you’re a fan of the powerhouse that is Amber Midthunder, you’ll love getting to see her absolutely kick ass as Naru. Midthunder plays the young Naru, a woman who is part of a Comanche tribe, finds herself stuck in a world where the men of her tribe look down upon her desire to be a hunter like the rest of them, and while she has an ally in her brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers), she is still mocked for her desire to be a hunter.

But when an outside being comes to their home and threatens their way of life, it is Naru who notices and begins to hunt what turns out to be a Predator. The film is a great look not only into the Predators we’ve come to know and love throughout the years but also the strength of the Comanche and their fighting techniques that we see highlighted by Midthunder in the film.

Getting to talk with her about Naru and Prey as a whole, it was clear that she loved being a part of this movie, and one of the amazing things about this release is that it was dubbed in Comanche for simultaneous release. It’s history-making, and for Midthunder, she says it was something that was explored during the filming.

“I actually did not know that we were gonna do that,” she said when I asked whether or not the Comanche dub was a draw for her. “I think that happened throughout cause there was conversation of doing the whole movie in Comanche originally or just dub it. I had no idea what the language involvement would be, but I did know that everybody felt very intentional towards being respectful and accurate and in a movie like this, that is fun and action filled and exciting and all the things to have that element I thought was really unique and really interesting. So that was definitely a huge draw.”

Naru is strong, and she’s determined, and it’s something that is going to inspire a lot of young people when they get to see Prey. For Midthunder, that’s one of her favorite things about the film. “Just to have an action film and especially as an Indigenous woman to have the lead of an action film be an Indigenous woman, it’s so important to see that for women in general or you know, specifically Native people, because to see somebody that you can identify with or relate to accomplish something that feels like you can’t picture it until you see it, it does something for you,” she said. “I feel in times when I’ve seen that happen in front of me, it unlocks this thing in your brain that you’re like, wow, I can do stuff. I can, whether that’s Res kids being like, oh, I can become an actor or whatever career I want. It’s achievable or women being like, oh yeah, I can be strong. Even if it’s strong in my body, I can go to a kickboxing class or whatever, I think is really cool in that way to just have somebody to relate to and champion that makes you feel strong.”

You can see our full interview here! There are slight spoilers for the film in the interview so please be wary if you don’t want to be spoiled!

Prey hits Hulu on August 5, and it’s a perfect entry in the franchise and a fun movie to watch. I just wish everyone could see it on the big screen like I did. So, I guess, please rent the biggest screen possible and stream Prey.

(featured image: 20th Century)