**_Survival in the Kalahari Desert, physical and spiritual_** A missionary couple in Africa (Ryan Phillippe and Mena Suvari) are forced to take a flight with a questionable bush pilot (Emile Hirsch). Unfortunately, they & several others end up stuck in the barren areas of Southwest Africa with plenty of lions and hyenas roaming about. "Prey" (2024) was originally called “Kalahari,” but changed to the hackneyed “Prey.” The movie poster isn’t that far removed from the 2007 movie “Prey.” At heart, this is a modern take on “Sands of the Kalahari” and “Flight of the Pheonix” with a key element of “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) thrown in. While this is the least of ’em due to its low-budget, it works well enough for a slow-burn survival adventure wherein the gore is more implied than shoved in your face. I prefer it to the 2007 version of “Prey.” There's a factual error (the medical treatment of a particular wound), as well as a couple of seeming plot holes, but one of them can be easily explained on the grounds that a stray bullet struck the radiator of the jeep. A better explanation is that the jeep wasn't even there since one of the Namibians said something about waiting for the jeep to come back, possibly with another vehicle to transport the prisoners. The other potential plot hole can also be explained with a little imagination. The writer/director isn’t obligated to spell everything out and respects the intelligence of viewers to put the pieces together. This was the first time I’ve seen Hirsch play a bad boy and he’s convincing. I also liked the lowkey ideological struggle between good and evil, morality vs immorality, faith and atheism (or, at least, agnosticism), Christianity vs secular humanism. Speaking of which, it’s laughable that some people criticize the flick on the grounds of it being “Christian propaganda.” Two of the main characters are occupational missionaries, so it’s understood that God and faith will come up in a few of the dialogues. But, again, this is so light it’s hard to believe anyone would complain. The same came up in “The Grey,” but no one complained there. As for a weather-related incident that occurs at the end, it doesn’t have to be attributed to a metaphysical source since freak things happen in the weather all the time. The film leaves you thinking about life’s heavy issues, like what’s your purpose? Is there a Creator? Is life a meaningless accident? Is there good and evil -- ethical and unethical -- or is everything relative? Is redemption possible for the morally compromised? Is there such a thing as self-sacrificial love (aka, agape)? The movie runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot in the arid areas of the high country north of Los Angeles, such as SilverStrand Ranch, Castaic; Agua Dulce Movie Ranch; The Quarry in Semi Valley (for the sand sequence); MH Aviation in Lancaster; and Vasquez Rocks; as well as studio stuff done at Blackstone Entertainment, Azusa. A second unit filmed additional scenery and animals in South Africa, along with the use of stock footage. GRADE: B-
