Prey on Netflix Ending Explained- Why

Netflix’s latest thriller is a backwoods survival story. As far as survivalist horror goes, this one doesn’t break any new ground. Still, decent performances from Hanno Koffler(Albert) and David Kross(Roman) and a brisk pace make for an enjoyable if confusing movie. With the bizarre ending and superfluous added side plot aside, Prey is a quality film with lush visuals and tense chase scenes. A bachelor party from hell starts out fun and games until a mysterious woman begins shooting at the men. One by one, she picks off the party-goers without a single word. Why she is after them is as much a mystery to them as to the viewer. Here we will unpack that bleak ending of Prey.

The plot of Prey

Five men are on a bachelor party camping trip. Brothers Roman the groom, and Albert are joined by Stefan(Klaus Steinbacher), Peter(Robert Finster), and Vincent(Yung Ngo) are headed home when they hear gunshots. They assume they have accidentally wandered near some hunters until one of the bullets hits Vincent. The men run for their lives as they try to evade the mysterious shooter and puzzle together why they are being hunted in the first place. Most of them die trying to run from the shooter until the shocking ending leaves just the brothers and their assailant.

Roman and Albert

Roman and Albert seem to have a good relationship until Roman finds a video on Albert’s phone that indicates Albert was having an affair with his wife, Lisa. Albert is the older brother, and Lisa worked for him. Roman was hoping Albert would give him a job, but as Peter points out late in the film, Albert is not a great person and has been dangling that stick for a while without any intention of ever hiring him. However, Albert also is more than willing to put his brother’s life at risk to save his phone, which should speak volumes.

Along with his continued affair with Lisa, a picture of the brother’s relationship emerges that is less than positive. Although this is sad for the brothers, it means very little in the greater narrative of the plot. The only interesting twist at the end of Prey is the “weaker” younger brother looks to be the one that saves the day and maybe the only one to get out alive. Roman was an alpha male that would always get shot down by Eva, while Albert was more evolved emotionally, and that was seen as a weakness when it turned into his biggest strength in this scenario.

Who is Eva in Prey?

Eva is the woman the men come across shortly after Vincent is shot in the arm. When the men find her by the river, she holds a rifle, and the men mistakenly ask her for help. Instead, she shoots Stefan in the head, and the men realize she is the person who has been shooting at them. She is a traumatized woman whose daughter was killed by a group of hunters a while back. Eva now actively pursues and kills anyone who stumbles into her path and reminds her of the hunting party that killed her daughter. Roman discovers this when he finds Eva’s house and Anne, her daughter’s grave. He also watches a video of the hunting accident that took Anne’s life. Eva lost herself in her grief and has been enacting vengeance on anyone who reminds her of the hunters.

Why did Eva kill herself?

We do not know why Eva chose to fall from the cliff edge, but likely she was so emotionally exhausted from hunting and killing people without anything changing her sadness that she gave up and chose to end things herself. Although Roman did manage to take the gun from her and hurl it over the edge, he wasn’t showing any signs of hurting her. In fact, he shows her the stuffed animal and says he is sorry for what happened to Anne. Thus, she may have chosen to end her life because the grief was too great and she realized no amount of killing would ever make her feel better, or she finally came to her senses and realized what she had done.

It’s also possible the men who killed her daughter did something terrible to her we did not see, and she was so frightened she willingly chose death over whatever she imagined Roman might do to her. In any case, Roman was alive, and Albert was propped against a rock breathing heavily. He had been shot and broke his ankle but is alive at the end of the film. Whether he stays that way is up to Roman, who will have to forgive Albert for having an affair with his fiance.

In Prey, the men were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and most of them died because of it. Eva was broken by watching the drunken hunters kill her child and chose revenge over acceptance from that day. The side plot with Albert, Roman, and Lisa was nothing more than subterfuge. Albert, who may have usually been the subservient person in the group, was the literal last man standing because of his ability to be both active when needed and sensitive when required. Prey is on Netflix right now.