As Dangerous Animals gets going, we first observe tourists and sightseers Greg (Liam Greinke) and Heather (Ella Newton) popping up on a Queensland quayside, hoping for a ‘marine experience’ with a local: they’ve just missed their organised tour doing something similar. The gaffer, Tucker (Jai Courtney) is straightaway signposted as a bit of a wildcard, but Greg and Heather are keen enough for said experience to ignore this; by the way, what they propose to do is go swimming with sharks. Tucker’s specialism – and business – stem from personal experience, as he survived a shark encounter (and a hell of a bite) as a kid. This hasn’t put him off; if anything, it’s triggered a strange, spiritual deference for the predators, which can only add to the red bunting which could already be flying from his boat.
Anyway, the boat heads out, Greg and Heather get in the shark cage, and down they go: to be fair, the underwater scenes in this film are very beautiful and tranquil. Sharks, of course, have two modes: serene giants of the sea, and eyes rolling, thrashing about in viscera, fearsome death machines. Come to think of it, Tucker is not too dissimilar, even if there’s a self-described method in his madness. he has a plan for his guests; he has a plan for all his guests, of which Greg and Heather only number two.
Next up, we meet a free spirit chick-with-a-van, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison). She begrudgingly agrees to give a lift to a guy whose own vehicle has broken down; after a guarded start with Moses (Josh Heuston), they do in fact hit it off. Yep, they’re quite clearly framed as a) cute enough to care about and b) Next, which is potentially a snag for the film to get past. You know full well that Tucker is about to hove into view, and that Zephyr is going to be the feisty riposte to whatever mad shit he has in store. So, it’d better be good.
Well, it is, mainly because Dangerous Animals has one killer idea at its core. This notion of shark-as-murder-weapon for a psychopath obsessed with his own brush with a shark-related death is a solid one, referencing other, older horrors and genres without feeling like a simple rehash, and do you know what else is great? The sharks here are…just sharks. They’re not genetically-modified sharks, surprise megalodons or inexplicably smart, vengeful sharks. Instead, the sharks here just do what sharks oh-so occasionally do (to humans, at least), and only then with some heavy encouragement from shark fanboy Tucker. Similarly, the character of Tucker doesn’t get (or need) an overly busy backstory. We learn a little, but he’s still kind of a closed book, a man tinged with de rigueur misogyny, but otherwise a seemingly affable, music loving, down to earth bloke. It’s hard not to see him in similar terms to Mick Taylor from 2005’s Wolf Creek: these two share the same instinct for picking off vulnerable, itinerant tourists by seeming like the salt of the earth, even if Tucker feels more like some sort of Discovery Channel-spawned monster, and Mick’s more SBS.
Once all the key pieces are in play though, Dangerous Animals essentially becomes a tense survival thriller – one with enough about it to make you shout advice at the screen, and one which feels in some respects like a Noughties horror film, back when all people seemed to do for a few years was survive (or not) various torturous situations. All in all, it works very well, although the rise and fall of adrenaline-inducing beats and subsequent lulls can feel a rather bedraggling experience for the viewer. However, this is a well shot, soundtracked and acted film, in equal parts clear on its influences and keen to do its own thing. And, although in its title and basic premise it may sound like it shares a lot of ground with the heyday of ‘animals gone rogue’ exploitation flicks, the proponent of all the horror here is very much human. As the poster suggests, you’re safer – kinda – in the water.
Director Sean Byrne earned his forever chops with his debut feature The Loved Ones, though he’s not been particularly prolific since that time, with only one interim feature-length before this newest one. Dangerous Animals does feel more akin to The Loved Ones – a realist film with some arguably fantasy touches – than The Devil’s Candy, a fantasy conceit with some aspects of realism, like its family dynamic. But is it helpful to force a comparison? Perhaps not, given that Byrne has, so far, opted for something quite different in each feature he’s made; he’s skilled and he’s confident, showing more and more knowledge each time, as well as showing willingness to play with ideas from the horror genre in a nicely self-referential way. He also knows a thing or two about how to dole out those killer scenes, and Dangerous Animals has a few beauties. All in all, even if the Australian Tourist Board might be tearing out their hair (again) over this film, the Australian Film Board ought to be throwing money and opportunities at Mr. Byrne; three features in sixteen years feels like far too few.
Dangerous Animals (2025) is available to stream now.