Character Relationship Map: Prey

Characters

• Andrew (played by Ryan Phillippe) — protagonist

  Christian missionary and central protagonist. Grapples with themes of faith, morality, and redemption while navigating survival against wildlife and armed fighters.

• Grun (played by Emile Hirsch) — protagonist

  Questionable bush pilot who transports the group. His actions directly lead to the passengers being stranded in a remote game reserve with dangerous wildlife and freedom fighters.

• Sue (played by Mena Suvari) — supporting

  Andrew's wife and fellow missionary. Forced onto the flight and integral to the group's survival efforts and ideological dynamics.

• Tyler (played by Dylan Flashner) — supporting

  Member of the stranded group of passengers. Must adapt to the arid desert environment and navigate conflicts with both wildlife and armed fighters.

• Max (played by Tristan Thompson) — supporting

  Member of the stranded ensemble. Engages in the collective struggle for survival against scorpions, hyenas, and hostile freedom fighters.

• Chrissy (played by Michaela Sasner) — supporting

  Member of the stranded group. Faces environmental hazards and ideological clashes while attempting to escape the hostile desert terrain.

• Thabo (played by Jeremy Tardy) — supporting

  Member of the stranded group. Contributes to the survival efforts and interacts with the group's ideological and moral struggles.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sue → Grun (Professional Passenger And Pilot) — Sue's survival depends on the pilot whose decisions created the crash conditions.

  Grun pilots the aircraft that transports Sue out of the region, and Sue becomes trapped after his plane crashes.

• Chrissy → Grun (Professional Pilot Responsibility) — Grun's piloting failure links him directly to Chrissy's death.

  Chrissy dies when Grun loses control of the overloaded plane and it crashes.

• Thabo → Tyler (Professional Guide And Client) — Thabo provides guidance and survival leadership for Tyler.

  The plot explicitly describes Thabo as a guide to Tyler and shows him urging Tyler and the others to continue seeking rescue.

• Grun → Tyler (Professional Guide And Client) — Grun's decisions directly affect Tyler's survival during the journey through the reserve.

  Thabo is described as a guide to the rich Tyler, while Grun leads Tyler and the others toward supposed rescue.

• Andrew → Sue (Family Husband) — They are married missionaries facing the survival crisis together.

  The plot identifies Andrew and Sue as a young couple and later states that Sue is Andrew's wife.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Andrew → Chrissy (Social Fellow Survivor) — They are connected as members of the same evacuation flight and survivor group.

  Andrew is among the passengers involved in the crash that kills Chrissy.

• Max → Tyler (Social Fellow Survivor) — They are members of the same endangered passenger group.

  Max and Tyler travel with Grun and Thabo during the first attempt to reach rescue.

• Andrew → Tyler (Social Fellow Survivor) — Their relationship develops through shared exposure to the reserve's dangers.

  Andrew and Tyler remain among the survivors who shelter near the wreckage and later search for rescue.

• Grun → Max (Conflict Opposed Survivors) — Max openly challenges Grun's judgment and authority.

  Max accuses Grun of being a murderer after the crash, takes Grun's gun, and demands that the group change direction.

• Grun → Thabo (Conflict Over Leadership) — Their survival priorities clash over the use of scarce resources and responsibility.

  After Thabo uses the only flare to stop Andrew's attack, Grun declares that their only flare has been spent.

• Andrew → Thabo (Alliance Survival Ally) — Thabo tries to protect the group and prevent Andrew's anger from causing further violence.

  Thabo initially urges Andrew and Sue to join the group, and later shoots Andrew with a flare gun to stop his attack on Grun.

• Andrew → Grun (Conflict Adversary) — Andrew regards Grun's decisions as the moral and practical cause of the group's suffering.

  Andrew discovers Grun was smuggling rhino horns, and later attacks Grun while blaming him for Sue's death.

Story Analysis

A stranded missionary confronts guilt, violence, wildlife, and exhaustion while fighting to survive after a criminal pilot crashes in a remote reserve.

Plot Progression

1. Flight Into Danger — Andrew and Sue flee their missionary station and negotiate passage on Grun's small plane. The overloaded aircraft crashes in the Ngala Reserve, killing Chrissy and trapping Sue.
2. A Divided Survival — Andrew stays with Sue while the other survivors follow Grun toward supposed rescue. Max begins to distrust Grun, and Andrew discovers the pilot's rhino-horn smuggling operation.
3. Lions At Night — The group returns to find Sue dead and struggles to decide who can use the detached cockpit as shelter. A coin toss leaves Tyler outside, while lions, gunfire, and a snake make the night catastrophic.
4. Human Predators — The remaining survivors search for rescue with Thabo injured. Armed fighters confront them over the rhino horns, kill Thabo, and are accidentally killed during Grun's attempt to disarm them.
5. The Final Sacrifice — Andrew and Grun flee toward temporary shelter as lions close in. Grun sacrifices himself, and Andrew survives a final encounter with hyenas when lightning and rain drive them away before villagers res...