In “Predator: Badlands,” Young Dek travels to Genna to prove himself by hunting the unkillable Kalisk—but survival hinges on an unlikely ally: the damaged android Thia, played by Elle Fanning. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, the film shifts the spotlight from a
Young Dek doesn’t just leave home to hunt something monstrous—he leaves to win a fight for his own identity.
Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is trying to prove his worthiness to his father, Njohrr (Reuben de Jong), who believes Dek doesn’t have what it takes to be an alpha predator. So he sets off to the “death planet” Genna with one mission in mind: slay the supposedly unkillable beast, Kalisk.
But the longer Dek is on Genna, the clearer it becomes that he’s over his head. When survival starts to look impossible, he needs help from an unlikely ally—the damaged android Thia (Elle Fanning). With Thia by his side. the question stops being whether Dek can fight monsters and becomes whether he can keep himself alive long enough to finish the hunt and. maybe. finally win his father’s approval.
The film’s momentum comes from an approach that feels different from the usual Predator formula. Dan Trachtenberg—known for the rebooted Predator films Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers—directs Predator: Badlands. And instead of centering the story on a muscle-bound human protagonist. the film commits to Dek: physically slight. visibly emotional. and constantly processing frustration. fear. anger—and even love.
That emotional through-line is where Thia’s presence lands. Fanning’s android isn’t just there to support the plot; she’s the “not-so-secret ingredient. ” making Dek a better predator by showing him his heart. (It’s not literal, of course—this is the kind of movie where you let the metaphor do its work.).
There’s a rare kind of satisfaction in franchise entries that don’t feel stuck in the past. Predator: Badlands. with its focus on an underdog and the pull of an unexpected partnership. is the sort of installment that doesn’t merely carry what came before—it improves on it and leaves you looking forward to what follows next.
Predator: Badlands Dan Trachtenberg Elle Fanning Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi Reuben de Jong Kalisk Thia Genna Prey Predator: Killer of Killers Hulu June 2026