Netflix’s latest batch of new releases on Friday included Prey, a German horror film written and directed by Thomas Sieben. The 87-minute movie has already found a wide audience outside Germany thanks to its release on the streaming platform. It now sits at number five on the Top 10 Movies in the U.S. chart, behind Kate, Worth, An Unfinished Live, and Afterlife of the Party.
Prey landed in one of Netflix’s unique categories as a “Nightmare Vacation” movie. It certainly fits that bill. Prey tells the story of five men who fight to survive in the woods while a mysterious pursuer targets them with a deer rifle. David Kross (not that David Cross) stars as Roman, who decides trekking through the woods is how he wants to spend his bachelor party weekend. Hanno Koffler plays Roman’s brother Albert, while Yung Ngo, Robert Finster, and Klaus Steinbacher play his friends. Livia Matthes plays Roman’s fiancee Lisa.
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Although Prey is high on Netflix’s movie chart, it has not done well with the few critics who reviewed it. “Even allowing for the minimalism of its formula, the German ‘hunted in the woods’ thriller Prey offers slim pickings for those who enjoy watching and reasoning one’s way out of the pre-ordained predicament it puts its victims and the viewer in,” Movie Nation critic Roger Moore wrote in his one-star review. Decider wrote that Netflix subscribers should “skip it” because the movie is “too thin to carry much dramatic weight.”
There are several other projects that hit Netflix on Friday you might want to check out. The animated film Firedrake and the Silver Dragon and Kate, an action movie starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, were also released. On Sept. 17, Netflix is releasing Ankahi Kahaniya, The Father Who Moves Mountains, and The Stronghold. The new releases hitting Netflix on Sept. 21 are The Starling and the documentary Vendetta: Truth, Lies and The Mafia.
If you enjoy Kross’ performance in Prey, he also stars in Rising High, a 2020 German film available on Netflix. Finster can be seen in Freud and Tribes of Europa. Steinbacher also stars in Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood, which is available on Netflix as well.
