The importance of "Prey" doing right by the dog, Sarii - Salon

This article contains dog spoilers for the film "Prey.".

It centers a young Comanche hunter and tracker named Naru (Amber Midthunder), determined to become a warrior and protect her tribe, be it from big cats, white men or an invisibility-cloaked threat from space. Importantly, the film has also introduced a cute dog.

Naru's near-constant companion Sarii (Coco) is a breed known as a carolina dog.

Tan-colored with large, perky ears, breeds such as Sarii don't have the highest "trainability level," according to the American Kennel Club, and Midthunder would have to agree, describing her canine co-star as "a little bit of a hot mess.".

Coco as Sarii is earnest, believable and endearing.

Dakota Beavers as Taabe and Amber Midthunder as Naru in "Prey" (David Bukach/20th Century Studios)It's difficult to concentrate when you know the dog might die and often, do so violently.

The dog's death in "They/Them" feels so inexplicable, it's hard to stay with the story.

Sarii wasn't supposed to be as big a part of the film, according to Midthunder and director Dan Trachtenberg. But in early screenings, everybody kept asking about that dog.

Adopted in order to be in the movie — her breed is believed to be a type of dog used by Indigenous people at the time the film is set — apparently she lacked the long training many showbiz dogs go through.

For making a movie, you know." That excitement comes through the film in the dog's eyes, which are bright and shining, her big ears alert as old TV antennae?

Coco apparently messed up on set ,and Sarii does onscreen

Dakota Beavers as Taabe and Amber Midthunder as Naru in "Prey" (20th Century Studios)Coco's comic timing as she spits out a rodent she chased down feels effortless