The film opens on Yautja Prime. Two brothers, Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and Kwei (Mike Homik) battle it out in the field and in a cave until Kwei sends Dek falling and causing him to lose his helmet. Dek is determined to establish his place among the other Yautja warriors like his and Kwei’s father, but Kwei believes his brother is trying too hard to prove who he is as a hunter. Kwei tells Dek about Genna, a “death planet” that is home to an unkillable creature known as the Kalisk. Dek believes if he can kill the Kalisk and bring it back as a trophy, he can be a true Predator.
Dek and Kwei’s father, clan leader Njhorr (also Dimitrius), returns from his hunt. Although Dek wishes to impress his father, Njhorr asks Kwei why Dek is still alive. Dek is seen as the weakest of the clan due to his smaller size and lack of a hunt. Njhorr orders Kwei to execute Dek, but Kwei instead sets Dek free and sends him onboard Kwei’s ship to send him to Genna. Njhorr attacks Kwei for disobeying him and deems his care for Dek as weakness. Kwei fights his father but loses an arm, though he manages to get Dek on his path. Dek can only watch helplessly as Njhorr decapitates his brother as the ship takes off.
Dek crash-lands on Genna, where most of the environment is deadly and filled with dangerous creatures. Immediately, Dek is surrounded by living vines that try to grab him, but he chops and slices through them to avoid being caught. He also comes across little worm creatures that explode.
Dek keeps moving forward and comes across Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani Synthetic whose legs were severed by the Kalisk. She adjusts her language so that Dek can understand her, and Thia warns him about the plants, which shoot thorns that paralyze people. Another large monster tries to go after Dek, and he ends up paralyzed by the plants. He manages to toss Thia one of his weapons so she can free herself, and she manages to kill the monster and apply the antidote to Dek. She then explains her objective to find the Kalisk. Dek carries her along with him, seeing her as a “tool”.
Along the way, Dek fashions a harness to easily carry Thia, while she rambles on with questions and also mentions to him how she came with a twin Synthetic called Tessa that she was separated from. Thia also learned a lot from studying other life forms, developing emotions for them.
Dek and Thia are caught in the trap of a Luna Bug. They also encounter a small blue alien-monkey type of creature that has impenetrable skin. The creature helps Dek and Thia getting past a field of razor sharp grass before leading the Luna Bug to its death. Later, the three set up camp, and the creature, whom Thia names “Bud” starts to take to Dek and marks him. However, Dek thinks being attached and having feelings is a sign of weakness. He mentions that he lost Kwei but doesn’t tell Thia how.
Elsewhere, Tessa’s body is recovered by Wey-Yu and is repaired. She reports to MU/TH/UR since the mission to locate the Kalisk was a failure, and she needs to return to complete the mission. Dek is also identified after a scan, and he is deemed a threat to the mission.
When they wake up, Dek and Thia move on without Bud. They walk until they find the remains of Thia’s crew, along with her legs. As she starts to repair herself on the wrecked ship, the Kalisk arrives, and Dek proceeds to battle it. The beast is large and fierce, but Dek eventually manages to chop its head off…but then it starts to regenerate and heal itself! Dek continues fighting but gets pinned down by the Kalisk. It stops short of killing him when it smells Bud on him. Suddenly, Tessa arrives with other Synthetics and freezes both Dek and the Kalisk, bringing them onboard while also recovering Thia.
Tessa leads the Synthetics back to Earth to deliver the Kalisk to Wey-Yu so they may exploit the creature’s regenerative properties. They also intend to study Dek even though he was not essential to the mission. Thia tries to appeal to Tessa as a sister, but not only does Tessa tell her that they are not sisters, but she was never going back for Thia at all and only needed whatever data she recorded, and she plans to have Thia decommissioned. Tessa starts to torture Dek, but Thia stops the machine. When Tessa leaves, Thia tricks a Synth into grabbing one of Dek’s bombs, giving him an opportunity to escape.
Dek comes upon Bud standing in a Kalisk footprint, realizing that the Kalisk is Bud’s mother. He marks Bud as part of his clan like she did to him, and he starts to gather all the dangerous items he has found on Genna to weaponize against the Synthetics.
Dek and Bud make it to the Wey-Yu base before it heads to Earth. They destroy most of the Synths before freeing Thia and reuniting her with her legs, allowing them to join the fight and obliterate the Synths. Tessa shows up in a mechanical suit and attacks the heroes. The Kalisk is freed and tears the suit apart with help from Dek, Bud, and Thia. The Kalisk devours Tessa before she can kill her. The beast reunites with Bud, and Dek treats her like an ally. But then, Tessa activates her weaponry from inside the Kalisk, causing her to freeze up and explode, killing her for good. Tessa prepares to kill Thia, but Dek impales her, and Bud tears her head and spine out, like a true Predator.
Dek returns to Yautja Prime to deliver Tessa’s skull as his trophy as a sign that he completed his hunt, so he is coming for his father’s cloak. Njhorr refuses to accept Dek’s return and orders his guards to kill Dek. He makes short work of the guards before battling his father. Njhorr tries to go invisible, but Dek uses his ship to blow the dirt up and expose him. Njhorr disarms his father and brings him to his knees. The clan leader suggests Dek yield and take his place in the clan, but Dek says he is part of a new clan. A fully grown Bud emerges from the ship and chomps Njhorr’s head off. Thia declares that Dek is officially Yautja.
Before Dek can enjoy his victory, the other Yautja suddenly arm themselves as another ship descends upon the planet. Dek recognizes the ship as his mother’s.[wide]
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