Franck’s survival and investigation techniques are glossed over in favour of convenient coincidences and sensationalist set-pieces: this hero’s emotional struggles are kept at arm’s length.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Prey doesn't have the obsessive pull of a great thriller, as it's undeniably an impersonal toy, but it's a hell of a toy.
The closer we get to a climax (and the more that absurd reversals keep getting piled on), the less effective Dupontel’s brutish charisma is in keeping things interesting and afloat. You pray the next he-man outing makes better use of his presence.
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
The script unfurls too many obvious setups, but director Eric Valette is smart enough to rely on his most authentic effect — Dupontel’s natural intensity.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
It doesn’t aspire to art-house significance, just to white-knuckled entertainment.
Okay, The Prey is ridiculous hokum that proves the French can make overwrought Hollywood thrillers with the same indefatigable energy and implausible realism as anyone else. It is also a slick, suspenseful adrenalin rush disguised as unexpected, nerve-wracking fun.
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
For moviegoers who prefer cheeky wit, down-and-dirty mayhem and grown-up suspense in their air-conditioned escapism, The Prey deserves to light up the summer art house.
Sweeping landscape shots and the reliable presence of Sergi López, here playing a scarred private investigator, can’t distract from the clichés of a particularly dim-witted script.
Director, Eric Valette, is an exuberant market-stall trader, hawking knock-off ingredients.