The sci-fi action horror film Prey (2022) has a lot going for it, but it’s really American composer Sarah Schachner’s score that elevates the material to new heights.

It makes the gory, seemingly inexplicably violent world of the Predator feel profound. This monster is here, it wants to destroy everything as a hunting challenge, and young Naru (the protagonist) much use her brains to take it out.

Schachner’s Prey Score Takes Predator to New Heights

Although it covers many genres, Sarah Schachner seems to make an occasional homage to The Last of the Mohicans’s (1992) legendary music. In some ways you can compare the two films, just with Prey leaning into its science fiction concept as the narrative reaches mid-point.

We do believe a film’s soundtrack is one of the most important things for any movie. Think 2024’s masterpiece Flow and or of John Williams’ work and the music draws you in. The music in Prey does exactly that, a wonderfully realised piece of work that adds real clout to the franchise.

We’ve come across Schachner’s work before as she provided the score to the 2019 action RPG video game Anthem. She’s also done the scores for several Call of Duty games, plus Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. These are very big AAA blockbuster titles in the world of gaming, but it’s great to see her skills branching out into film.

In an interview with Variety (Schachner on Balancing Gore With an Emotional Storyline), she told the publication in August 2022:

“We were making a Predator film with all the fun gory action and suspense you’d expect, but the music had to simultaneously tell Naru’s emotional story and her evolution … The key was to not be afraid to say something in a film with so little dialogue.”

She performed and recorded the majority of the string sections herself.

“I have a voice note of me playing it and working it out for the first time on the double bass. I tend to channel my own emotions directly into my playing, so writing and performing all the increasingly aggressive iterations of the Predator motif was like therapy for me.”

The result is a score that really guides the narrative and makes the world Naru (the protagonist) is in feel alive, raw, and threatening. But also beautiful, as the film’s location is stunning and the music matches the scope of the sweeping landscapes.

The various action set pieces also feature excellent, pulse-pounding type music. But the overall theme is one of an orchestral sweep, with lashings of ambiance to support Naru’s fight for survival.

As this has previously been a male dominated film, the 1987 originally being a legendarily macho time of it with Arnold Schwarzenegger and many other buff dudes, Prey did get backlash online. Mainly as there was a female lead and the usual “woke” panic attack kicked in for certain types.

We’ve even seen one bloke on YouTube claiming Schachner’s score is bad and “woke” (we’re not even sure how woke music can be a thing tbh).

However, we’ve also seen other people we actually respect dismiss the score. Film critic Oliver Harper, for example, was dismissive of the score felt it didn’t work with the film. We find that quite baffling as this is one of the best, and most suitable and inventive, scores we’ve heard from the 2020s.

Lead actor Amber Midthunder addressed some of the negativity and how she was pleased to prove everyone wrong. This is a great film and she does a fine job in it.

The whole of Prey is a celebration of diverse talents. Male director, female lead, lots of great supporting actors, and a female composer. One dub of the film even has the actors speaking in the Comanche language.

As the narrative develops, Schachner expertly weaves in this beautiful music to lift the film to great heights. She keeps a low profile online, but the 37 year old’s focus on raw authenticity is quite the marvel.