The Ending Of Netflix's Prey Explained
What do you associate the forest with? Nature? Camping? If you watch enough horror movies and thrillers, you probably think it's the one place you should never venture into.
Netflix's "Prey" cements that fact, and its tense plot and fast pacing make it easy to see why numerous subscribers have checked it out. The film follows five men having a bachelor party by hiking through the woods. When one of them gets shot, they soon realize it was no accident as the mysterious hunter also blew out their vehicle's tire and windows. It becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse as they wander through the forest, staying low and avoiding making any sound whatsoever in one of the most chilling films to come out of Netflix in 2021.
The suspense and tension come from never quite knowing where the hunter will pop up next. It's a modern update on "The Most Dangerous Game," and you'll stay glued to your seat to figure out how all the puzzle pieces come together. The ending of Netflix's "Prey" will leave your jaw on the floor.
The shooter's motivations
The men stumble upon an innocent-looking woman, Eva (Maria Ehrich), standing by the lake, and while they initially think she can help them, it turns out she's the shooter all along. She kills one of them and continues to pursue the others for the remainder of the movie. A lot of burning questions arise. What does she want? Is she connected to the men in some way?
All is revealed when the remaining survivors come across an abandoned town. Roman (David Kross) walks into what was originally the shooter's home and opens a laptop to find a video cued up. It's footage from two hunters who must've come across Eva months or years ago. The hunters were clearly drunk and began harassing Eva and her daughter, inadvertently killing the child in the process.
She never explicitly elaborates on her motivations, but one can surmise that she was distraught over her daughter's death so much that she decided to take her anger out on anyone else who trespassed in the forest. The five men in the group just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and most of them met grisly demises as a result.
What was going on with Lisa?
Throughout the hiding and the trepidation throughout the main plot, we're treated to flashbacks of Roman getting all lovey-dovey with his fiancée, Lisa (Livia Matthes). Things seem picture-perfect, and you understand what Roman is trying to get out of the forest for. However, things take a sharp left turn when the one smartphone starts working again, and Roman discovers Lisa has sent some promiscuous photos to his brother, Albert (Hanno Koffler).
It's bad enough to have a crazy woman hunt you and your friends down in the woods. It's another thing entirely when you're at the end of your rope and discover your brother has slept with your fiancée. While it's a devastating moment, it also functions as the catalyst for Roman taking on their hunter head-on. They're cornered, and there's nowhere left for the two remaining survivors to run; Roman sneaks up on Eva with a knife in hand, ready to take her on.
Does Roman die at the end?
With the gun out of commission, Eva's alone at the edge of the cliff. Roman's not really in a position to kill her, either, so she walks off the cliff. There's no explanation given. Perhaps she finally came to her senses and realized she killed other people's children, too. Regardless, she's dead, so in true final girl fashion, Roman leans against a rock and breathes a sigh of relief. He made it; he's alive.
The one character's fate who's still up in the air is Albert. Roman left him in a ditch after he discovered his transgression on his phone, but he did seem to still care about his brother. He told him to apply pressure to his wound so maybe Albert could make it out alive at the end of the day, but things still don't look great for either of them. They've both sustained gunshot wounds, and they're in the middle of the woods with no one else nearby. They'll have a tough time walking back to civilization, so their best bet is to pray for a helicopter to come by and see one of them.
Figuring out who lived and who died isn't necessarily the point of the film, though. It's all about what people will do when their backs are against the wall. Will they work together or fight amidst their friends?
Maybe there are other people in that forest hunting men for sport that could serve as the basis for "Prey 2." As it stands, the movie more than stands on its own as a terrifying thriller.