Dangerous Animals

Title: Dangerous Animals
Director: Sean Byrne
Released: 2025
Starring: Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston, Rob Carlton, Ella Newton, Liam Greinke, Jai Courtney

Plot: When the American drifter and surfer Zephyr (Harrison) is kidnapped by the shark obsessed serial killer Tucker (Courtney) she has to find a way to escape his boat before she becomes the star of his next video. 

Review: With the glut of bad shark movies coming out on a seemingly weekly basis especially now logic and reason have been thrown out completely with the DTV market and SYFI channel being supplied by the likes of Avalanche Shark and Five Headed Shark Attack which really only makes the rare good shark movie shine all the brighter when a director of talent takes over the reigns which is certainly the case here. At the same time Sean Byrne has been adding to the recent wave of exciting genre movies we have seen coming out of Australia since his memorable debut The Loved Ones.

Now teaming up with Jay Courtney he gives his homeland another memorable movie psycho with the shark obsessed boat captain Tucker who in many ways is similar to Wolf Creek’s psycho bushman Mick Taylor only with the sadistic edge turned down which certainly is welcome for myself who always found the rawness of Wolf Creek to be the factor which detracted from it. Tucker while certainly having plenty of nasty traits is less relentless and at times worryingly disarming as he drops a few bars of Baby Shark or drunkenly dances in his underwear to “Evie (Part One)” by Stevie Wright its role that Courtney fully commits to and it memorably delivers while the film wastes little time in establishing his murderous intentions as it opens with the reveal of how he finds the victims for his home movies who he films being fed to his beloved sharks.

Hassie Harrison while easy to dismiss as the budget Jennifer Lawrence really shines as the feisty and resourceful Zephyr who following a love them and dump them encounter with real estate agent Moses heads off to pursue her real love of surfing only to be kidnapped by Tucker. Moses meanwhile with a slight stalker like obsession though is soon setting out to try and track her down which makes for a decent b-plot to cut away to and keep the action on the boat flowing. Zephyr though isn’t a damsel in need of rescuing and by the end of the film it could be argued she rescues them both with some strong final girl energy.

An engaging thriller throughout as Zephyr attempts to outsmart her captive, while Tucker’s boat provides an unfamiliar setting and perfect stage for the dramatic kills he like to orchestrate with Byrne keeping things largely grounded till the finale were he allows himself a slight fantastical leap with the introduction of a monster sized shark which does help add to the finale especially with the standout shot of Zephyr coming face to face with the ultimate predator.

As I mentioned at the start of this review the market is hardly lacking in shark movies and yet here Byrne manages to create something which does feel fresh and original while effectively hitting the familiar slasher tropes to create a film which is far more than just another shark movie.