A Serial Killer At Sea: 'Dangerous Animals' (2025) Review
"Oh, how romantic, too bad I'm more of a horror fan."
It's summer so that means it's a perfect time for a shark movie. Dangerous Animals takes the idea of a shark movie and adds a serial killer in the mix. Starring Jai Courtney (Bruce) and Hassie Harrison (Zephyr), the film converges these concepts and director, Sean Byrne (The Devil's Candy), gives us a suspenseful summer flick that kept us on our toes from beginning to end.
The film opens with Bruce taking a couple out on the water to swim with sharks. It doesn't take long for us to see Bruce's true nature because as soon as he pulls the couple from the water, he stabs the man in the neck and pushes him back in the water. The next time we see Bruce is when he sees Zephyr one night about to go for a surf and we already know what is about to go down. Script writer Nick Lepard, who only has one other film under his belt [Keeper (2025)], does a good job of building the story piece by piece. The movie is about survival and Byrne and Lepard don't make us work for the story, they lay it out for us as we watch Zephyr fight her way off the boat. And she does so with everything in her.
Harrison doesn't hold back. Her performance is a highlight of this film. She is such a dynamic character and there are moments when she goes all the way there. Along with Jai Courtney as Bruce, these two carry this film, making it feel like an aggressive dance between the two of them.
Early in the film, Zephyr meets a guy named Moses (Josh Heuston) who needed help jumping his car. The two of them end up having a one night stand that Moses doesn't want to end. He attempts to join Zephyr on her surf but when he reaches her van, she's already been taken. After not getting much help from the police, he follows the breadcrumbs to find her. But of course Moses ends up becoming just as trapped as Zephyr. The film soon becomes a back and forth, push and pull between Zephyr and Bruce that starts to go on for a little too long.
Dangerous Animals is a summer thriller worth adding to your watchlist. Cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe, captures the sharks so well that each scene they are in feels like a Shark Week episode. The main performances and storytelling come together and make an interesting horror thriller that stands up well against some of our shark film favorites.
⭐⭐⭐.5
