Title – Dangerous Animals (2025)

Director – Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones)

Cast – Jai Courtney, Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston, Ella Newton

Plot – On the Gold Coast of Australia, keen surfer Zephyr (Harrison) finds herself captive on Bruce Tucker’s (Courtney) boat setting in motion a battle between both man and beast in the shark infested waters the boat is moving through.  

“You’re safer in the water”

Review by Eddie on 01/08/2025

A joint production between America and Australia that combines something we never knew we needed combined in our cinematic landscape, serial killers and sharks, Dangerous Animals marks Aussie director Sean Byrne’s first feature film since 2015’s The Devil’s Candy in what’s a unique and sporadically brilliant offering that is a little to contrived and long in the tooth to be regarded as an outright success.

Basking in its demented and inventive set-up that follows the life and death battle of wits Hassie Harrison’s American free spirit surfer Zephyr finds herself in as she tries to escape the clutches of Jai Courtney’s shark aficionado serial killer Bruce Tucker, Animals starts off in a rollicking fashion with a scene-chewing Courtney having the time of his life but as its seemingly brief sub-100 minute running time ticks on Byrne’s film can’t maintain the momentum and energy it’s early segments possess.

Unafraid to get bloody and play into its darker nature, Animals has a very similar vibe to Byrne’s breakout debut Australian cult classic The Loved Ones and when its got a Zephyr and Bruce focus, Animals has a great time playing off the good vs evil angle with a fishy twist but once it gives way to more screentime dedicated to Zephyr’s one night stand knight in shining armour Moses (played by Josh Heuston), a lot more plot contrivances and repetitive back and forwards take hold, ensuring Animals is unable to reach the grand heights its wild concept may have had within its reach.

What is an unquestionable aspect of Animals is the joyous performance of Courtney who has unarguably never been better than he is here.

Matching the energy of famous Australian cinema villains such as Wolf Creek’s Mick Taylor or Animal Kingdom’s Andrew “Pope” Cody, Courtney’s Bruce is an instantly iconic creation and after being misused in various ways across his career so far in the likes of Terminator Genisys, A Good Day to Die Hard or Suicide Squad, Courtney here showcases a whole other element to him as a performer and one suspects that following on from this Hollywood may look at Courtney in a whole different line when it comes to future roles, not dissimilar to Ben Mendelsohn’s career revival in the wake of his Animal Kingdom turn.

Full of little moments and some darkly twisted ingredients that sadly don’t always gel together to give us the first official serial killer/shark classic combo, Dangerous Animals is a uniquely designed local offering that has equal amount of highs and lows creating an uneven viewing experience that can’t be accused of not taking a big swing.

Final Say –

An unfortunately mid-tier affair that flirts with being something special, Dangerous Animals isn’t a must-see but thanks to Jai Courtney’s unexpectedly great against type performance and some solid shark carnage there’s still some viewing joy to be found here.

2 1/2 Pinkfong songs out of 5