Prey feels like a suspense-free horror movie that's more pleasant than frightening. I can’t imagine dealing with severe trauma or mental distress by talking about it with a therapist or watching movies about unending happiness. If I were sent to some remote island for three days as part of a “self-discovery” program, equipped only with survival skills, I would likely be a very different person today. The characters are clearly struggling psychologically and given the freedom to do whatever they want on this entire island – setting up camp, creating complicated traps, killing animals, even each other. The insurance premiums must have been outrageous! Khalfoun comes up with an absurd plot and essentially hands it over to some demonic creature that roams through the lush jungle of the island. What’s a horror film without suspense? What's a psychological thriller without character development? What is any movie without entertainment? It’s obvious Khalfoun doesn’t understand even the most basic elements of filmmaking. Not one bit! The jump scares are cheap and predictable, arriving exactly when you expect them to. There were more plot holes than you could find in a sponge pulled from a wrecked boat. So much foreshadowing it feels like the island is destined for eternal darkness. Aside from Miller, who at least tried to work around the poor script he was given, the acting felt weak, like a coconut branch surviving a monsoon. Flashback sequences that resembled commercials for some kind of classic car were awkwardly inserted into the story through very basic editing. However, what truly makes Prey such a draining experience is the attention to detail. We're supposed to believe this young girl and her mother have lived on the island for over ten years. That’s acceptable, but when she looks perfectly groomed – fresher than a fish caught on a spear – something seems off. Her eyebrows are shaped, her makeup is flawless, her hair is straight as can be while she conditions it with TRESemmé. Are you sure she didn't live in a salon for a decade? And then Toby suddenly becomes Bear Grylls in just a few days. Where did that come from? Khalfoun tries to trick the audience by suggesting that the main character is actually making up all of this. A five-minute scene where he talks to himself explicitly suggests his mental state is deeply disturbed. But even that would have been more enjoyable than what Khalfoun delivered. There are cult rituals, voodoo practices, a cave filled with colorful paintings – it all leads to an ending that made me want to mash some berries and feed them to the beast itself. What was *that*? Seriously! I hate endings that make the whole thing feel pointless. Especially when there was a perfectly good boat sitting in the middle of the film! Whatever happened to the rescue raft that the program manager had beached? The CGI demon could clearly swim, considering how terrible the ending was. Enough is enough. At least Robbins’ cinematography made the beautiful island bearable. Prey embodies all the worst qualities found in uninspired, low-budget horror movies and doesn't even try to hide its appeal, ultimately making it one of the worst films of the year.

Source on TMDB