Dangerous Animals (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts 

• Grade – B+ 
• Dangerous Animals rules. Between The Loved Ones, The Devil’s Candy, and Dangerous Animals, director Sean Byrne is on a roll.
• Jai Courtney is a hoot
• Hassie Harrison is cool
• Josh Heuston is likable
• It’s an intelligently made thriller
• I love that it got accepted into the Cannes Film Festival

What I appreciate most about Dangerous Animals is that it’s not content with being just another high-concept film about a serial killer feeding his victims to sharks. Director Sean Byrne went out of his way to make the film look gorgeous and he accomplished this by storyboarding, shooting on open water, and using prime lenses to capture excellent wide shots. Also, if you’ve watched a Byrne film (The Loved Ones, The Devil’s Candy) you’ll know that he gets the best out of actors and whether it’s Ethan Embry giving a career-best performance in The Devil’s Candy, or Jai Courtney stealing every scene in a Dangerous Animals, the actors trust Byrne and you can see it on the screen. 

Since 2017, Byrne has been attempting to follow up The Devil’s Candy but kept having projects fall through due to a lack of funding or the pandemic. This is why Nick Lepard’s script for Dangerous Animals must’ve felt like a revelation. For starters, it’s a movie about sharks which means funding would be easier to find,  which is the reason why director Matthew Holmes chose to direct and write Fear Below — the other 2025 Australian shark movie (both will be covered on Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast). Also, It isn’t as gut-wrenching as The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy, but it’s still a Sean Byrne movie in that it features a serial killer (Jai Courtney), a damaged hero (Hassie Harrison), a cool love interest (Josh Heuston), and most importantly — gnarly violence. Also, Byrne went out of his way to not villainize sharks by treating them with respect and awe. There are moments when the highly evolved creatures look incredible and there’s an all-timer movie shark that comes into play during the climax.  

The Cinematography by Shelley Farthing-Dawe is spectacular and starts beautifully with a cool wide shot of Tucker’s boat that showcases the beauty of the Coral Sea. In an interview with IndieWire, Farthing-Dawe said Byrne storyboarded the entire film and they used an ALEXA Mini LF with ARRI Signature Prime lenses to give it a great look. The unhurried wide shots give the movie an old-school vibe that isn’t rushed, and the lack of shaky cam shenanigans makes it seem more organized and methodical. Byrne and crew shot in open water for a few weeks which created terrible nights for everyone on the boat, but it looks fantastic on screen. Also, the practical boat lighting conceptualized by Byrne, Farthing-Dawe and production designer Pete Baxter looks great and it pays off when you see Jai Courtney’s exquisitely-lit curly hair (the hair lighting is legit)

Michael Yezersik’s score is welcomely bombastic and the song selection is inspired. Between The Donna’s cover of “Dancing with Myself,” “Baby Shark,” “Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex, and “Dangerous” by Ryan Bingham (who is married to Harrison) it’s a well put together soundtrack, which isn’t surprising because the entire film is put together well.

Dangerous Animals opens with two tourists, Greg (Liam Greinke) and Heather (Ella Newton), heading out for a shark dive on a boat owned by a hulking guy named Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney). Before you can sing the entirety of “Baby Shark,” things go bad and Heather is left chained to a metal bed frame in the guts of the boat. From there, we’re introduced to an American named Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), who traveled to Australia to surf and be left alone (she’s a window seat type of person). While stopping at a convenience store to buy dozens of bread rolls, she meets Moses (Josh Heuston) and the two good-looking people bond over their love of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and surfing. The following morning, Zephyr takes off early to catch waves and is abducted by Bruce (named after the shark in Jaws btw), who traps her in the same room as Heather. From there, Zephyr and Bruce engage in a fun game of cat-and-mouse that involves stab wounds, head kicks, and shark feedings. 

Jai Courtney’s beefed-up 6’1” frame makes Tucker a physically imposing villain who thoroughly enjoys his conquests. Dogs don’t like him, he loves to talk, and he considers himself to be a “genuine, walking-talking miracle” after he survived a shark attack as a child. He’s a coral snake among kingsnakes (or so he thinks), and he’s found his match with Zephyr, who became tough after many years of living in the foster system. Her name means “gentle breeze,” but she’s more of a tropical storm and I love that she doesn’t let the beefy serial killer intimidate her. Their battles are heightend for cinema, but there’s a believability and intelligence to their chess match that makes all the suspense and near misses work really well.

Dangerous Animals doesn’t care about reinventing the wheel (which is nearly impossible), but it does care about being the best possible version of itself — which is refreshing.

Final thoughts – Watch Dangerous Animals in theaters.