‘Dangerous Animals’ review: Sean Byrne’s Australian sharksploitation lacks real bite

Dir: Sean Byrne. Australia. 2025. 98mins

The azure waters off Australia’s Gold Coast conceal a darkish secret in Harmful Animals; and it’s not simply the man-eating sharks that lurk within the depths. Following an Australian vacationer information whose shark obsession leads him to commit heinous acts, Sean Byrne’s third characteristic is a messy mash-up of creature characteristic and serial killer film whose psychological posturing and gory results can’t conceal the truth that it’s propped up by drained horror tropes.

A messy mash-up of creature characteristic and serial killer film

Byrne’s debut characteristic The Cherished Ones received the Folks’s Alternative Award in Toronto’s Midnight Insanity strand in 2009, and follow-up Satan’s Sweet performed Sitges earlier than being launched within the US via IFC and Shudder, who’ve reteamed for a Harmful Animals launch within the US in June following its Administrators Fortnight premiere. Regardless of the critiques, horror followers in all places needs to be tempted by the movie’s high-concept premise, sharksploitation vibes and bloody chills.

Australian actor Jai Courtney is a world away from his Terminator Genisys / Suicide Squad motion hero roots because the portly, unshaven Tucker, who runs shark safaris from his rusting hulk of a ship. Tucker appears pleasant sufficient – till he will get out on the open sea, the place he medication unsuspecting (and completely) feminine vacationers and feeds them to the sharks, fastidiously filming the ritualistic killing for repeat enjoyment. The period of time that Byrne and cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe spend lingering over terrified bikini clad sufferer Heather (Australian actor Ella Newton, with a persuasive British accent), each earlier than and through her violent demise, could also be indicative of the depths of Tucker’s perverse fascination, however feels extra uncomfortably calculated and predatory than both him or the circling beasts.

The racks of VHS tapes on his wall communicate to the size of Tucker’s psychopathy however, when he abducts free-spirited American surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), he meets his match. A fellow loner and all-round robust cookie, Zephyr shouldn’t be happening and not using a battle – significantly as she has lately met and fallen for native actual property agent Moses (Josh Heuston). Certainly, the spark ensuing from their one night time collectively is powerful sufficient to ship Moses searching for her when she doesn’t return his calls.

There are many tense moments as Zephyr fights for her life – greater than as soon as she escapes Tucker’s clutches, solely to be reeled again in by unlucky circumstances. Whereas the contained, remoted location brings a heightened sense of helplessness and claustrophobia (the movie shot on an actual boat off Australia’s Gold Coast), Nick Lepard’s overstretched screenplay doesn’t prolong a lot past this well-worn cat-and-mouse state of affairs, and fails to convey nuance or depth which will have elevated the movie past its easy story.

Crucially, and except for references to his personal brush with a shark and, after all, an unfit mom, Tucker’s motivations stay unclear. The parallels he makes between himself and these killer kings of the ocean are drawn from pop psychology; his impassioned perception that sharks are misunderstood put at deliberate odds together with his gleeful manipulation of their maneating. Whereas Courtney does properly to harness the childhood trauma that has left its mark – you’ll by no means hear ‘Child Shark’ in the identical approach once more – the character is written as a one-note psychopath who has simply discovered one other ingenious option to kill girls for pleasure.

Equally, and regardless of Harrison’s dedicated, gung-ho efficiency, Zephyr is a join-the-dots remaining woman, one other broken soul who should sq. as much as the demons inside herself if she is to finest these real-world monsters. It doesn’t assist that she is pitted towards a shambling human nemesis, slightly than simply the extra entertainingly unpredictable aquatic hunters of shark horrors like The Meg, The Shallows and, after all, Jaws.

Extra profitable is the movie’s atmospheric soundscape, with composer Michael Yezerski and Academy Award-winning sound designer David White (Fury Street) making a wealthy and unsettling aural expertise. And alongside the way in which there may be actually loads of blood, guts and a number of other well-timed soar scares – to not point out footage of real-life sharks blended into the motion – that can absolutely please late-night crowds. But, beneath all of it, Harmful Animals proves slightly toothless.