Amber Midthunder seems destined to have led Prey. Her own origin story is embedded in the film industry — her stunt-actor parents met on the set of 1995 film East Meets West — and as an Assiniboine Native American, First Nation heritage runs through her veins, connecting her to Naru, the indigenous warrior-in-training in Dan Trachtenberg’s action-packed Predator prequel. Set in 1719, in the Northern Great Plains in North America, Prey sees a Predator arrive to battle the Earth’s fittest, from bears to Comanche war chiefs… Then it runs into Naru. With a performance defined by ferocious determination, vulnerability and charm, Midthunder blew us all away. She is still, she tells us, reeling from it all.
It’s great how resourceful Naru is. Making things, and being a healer, is just as integral to her survival as being a hunter.