Dangerous Animals (2025) Review

Some films are good, many are bad and a few downright ugly. However, even the worst can be redeemed by a strong performance. ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ is pretty lousy, yet Alan Rickman’s delightfully camp Sheriff of Nottingham makes it worthwhile. Morgan Freeman very nearly saves ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’ from the trash heap of cinema history, while Gene Hackman elevated countless films- from ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’ to ‘Loose Cannons’- showing that while you can’t always count on a good film, you can at least count on a great actor to steal the show.

Sean Byrne’s ‘Dangerous Animals’ is the latest film to prove this rule. A ‘Jaws’ and ‘Wolf Creek’ mashup, it centres on Zephyr, a young American surfer drifting her way through Australia. After a one-night stand, she is abducted by a shark obsessed serial killer named Tucker. Held in the bowels of his boat, she must figure out a way to escape, lest she be turned into chum.

It’s a promising concept, and could have been a terrific film, were it not for the quality of the writing- or lack of it, rather. Screenwriter Nick Lepard has crafted a narrative riddled with clichés and predictable beats, with a mushy Hollywood conclusion bordering on self-parody. It lacks tension and becomes, by the third act, repetitive and exhausting. Scenes that should be taut and claustrophobic instead feel oddly weightless, as if the script is ticking off familiar genre beats without understanding what made them effective in the first place.

Further, Lepard’s dialogue throughout is stilted at best and genuinely cringe-inducing at times, especially whenever Zephyr interacts with Moses, the man with whom she had a one-night stand. Worst of all, the protagonist is remarkably difficult to warm to. Zephyr is abrasive, written with a kind of forced toughness that never feels authentic. She is not believable, instead coming across as an implausibly gutsy, one-note caricature of a “strong independent woman”. She’s so unlikable you find yourself rooting for Tucker- a psychopath who feeds people to sharks.

What’s most disappointing is that Byrne and Lepard flirt with nastier, darker, even funnier possibilities, but never commit to any of them, leaving the film stranded in a frustratingly timid middle ground. The darkly comic, unexpected opening scene- which, tellingly, doesn’t involve Zephyr- is the strongest precisely because it embraces a tone Byrne lacks the nerve to sustain for the rest of the film.

On a purely technical level, ‘Dangerous Animals’ is competent without ever being distinctive. Shelley Farthing-Dawe’s cinematography captures Australia’s coastline with a serviceable polish, though lacks the visual boldness that might have sharpened its sense of menace. Pete Baxter’s production design is generally commendable, especially his work on Tucker’s boat, while Michael Yezerski’s score effectively generates dread- but neither element lingers after the credits roll.

Yet, just as Alan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham saved ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,’ so too does Jai Courtney’s Tucker save ‘Dangerous Animals’. He is terrific: sinister, confident and darkly comedic, yet utterly reprehensible. Courtney is clearly having a ball with the role, bringing a welcome sense of play to a film otherwise lacking it. His performance evokes John Jarratt’s Mick Taylor from the ‘Wolf Creek’ series, particularly in how his rough-around-the-edges charm and initial affability make the violence he causes all the more unsettling.

Sadly, he is the only one keeping proceedings afloat. Hassie Harrison fails to make Zephyr compelling, never quite convincing as a feisty, tough-nut protagonist. Her performance feels forced throughout- although Lepard’s one-note characterisation doesn’t help. Moreover, Josh Heuston’s Moses is about as colourful as cardboard, and somehow less interesting. Conversely, Ella Newton- as another of Tucker’s victims- is actually quite good, though not on screen long enough to make much impact.

In the end, for a film about a man who feeds people to sharks, Sean Byrne’s ‘Dangerous Animals’ lacks bite. A frustrating mix of promise and missed opportunities, it never lives up to its premise, treading water when it should be diving into murky depths. Nick Lepard’s narrative underwhelms and the heroine is wholly unlikable. However, Jai Courtney elevates the film above mediocrity; a reminder that a single inspired performance can make even a flawed movie worth sinking your teeth into.