Proie (2010)

PREY tells the story of Nathan (BEAU TRAVAIL'S Gregoire Colin) who is at a countryside retreat for a Fall family reunion that he expects to be particularly stormy. Claire, his wife, has to ... See full summary »

Director:

Antoine Blossier

Writers:

Antoine Blossier (scenario), Erich Vogel (scenario)

Stars:

Grégoire Colin, François Levantal, Fred Ulysse

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Grégoire Colin	...	Nathan
François Levantal	...	Nicolas
Fred Ulysse	...	Eric
Joseph Malerba	...	David
Isabelle Renauld	...	Marie
Bérénice Bejo	...	Claire

Storyline

PREY tells the story of Nathan (BEAU TRAVAIL'S Gregoire Colin) who is at a countryside retreat for a Fall family reunion that he expects to be particularly stormy. Claire, his wife, has to announce her pregnancy and there are tough decisions that need to be made to prevent the family's pesticides business from closing down. But on the first night that the family gathers, a terrorized deer mysteriously attacks Claire's father. The men decide to venture into the surrounding forest to find the reasons for the animal's odd behavior. Carrying a shotgun for the first time in his life and witnessing the growing tensions between the men in the family, Nathan soon discovers that hunting season is not over yet. Now they've become the prey. Marking the debut film for Antoine Blossier, PREY brings together a special effects team from some of Hollywood's best films.

---

Plot Keywords:

forest | woods | dark forest | one word title | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

13 July 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

A Presa

Filming Locations:

Studio Transpa, Saint-Ouen, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quasar Pictures, Bel Pix, Polaris Film Production & Finance

Technical Specs

Color:

Color Color (Eastmancolor)

User Reviews

A great hunting and survival horror that turns out to be a profound family drama and dark psychological thriller

This is now already the fifth part of my little review series: Movies that are way better than you expect.

When I bought this movie at a low price a couple of days ago I expected some entertaining gore horror movie and the short length of only seventy-six minutes seemed to underline my expectations. What I discovered is a fast paced diversified thriller with many surprises that I didn't see coming at all.

In only five minutes or so the director introduces a complicate family drama to us: The young main actor that wants to finally start a new life with his pregnant girlfriend in a city, his girlfriend itself who is torn between her family and their enterprise and the love of her life, her egoist father who secretly worked with pesticides and is constantly in search for further power, his ex-wife who helped him with his conspiracies and still takes a big place in his life, the father's grim brother that feels exploited by him, their father who suffers a strange disease and feels the dark shadows coming over the family - they are all part of the following race and when they go out for a hunt, they become not only the prey of some strange boars that have gone wild but also each other's prey. Jealousy, pride and egoism lead to many surprising and radical scenes and the dramatic turns of events all seem to liberate the worst in each of them. A quite simple plot turns into a haunting and surprising story that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

It's incredible that the director had the time to introduce half of a dozen profound and diversified characters to the movie and mix the horror hunt with influences from the drama and psychological suspense genre and that's what makes this movie so unique and worthwhile. You will quickly realize that the movie focuses on the monsters in the human soul and not that much on some pigs gone crazy even if that aspect is also explained in a credible way. The hunting story itself includes a dark atmosphere, some gripping survival horror parts with a couple of good ideas and some gore scenes that are not too exaggerated and fit well to the general atmosphere and the character's extreme changes. The special effects are not outstanding but done in a truly solid and credible way in comparison to many other low or no budget horror flicks that show too many artificial and unreal monsters and quickly turn me off. The good camera work and the well done soundtrack are other positive points that make this movie one of the best of its kind and a little unexpected masterpiece gem.

In the end, you should not expect anything revolutionary but in its genre and for what it is supposed to be, this movie really left a deep and permanent impression and I will surely watch it a few times again. Make sure to check this underestimated French horror flick out in your local video shop.