Dangerous Animals

The beginning of July has a lot going on—from Independence Day in America to, of course, Shark Week, which airs on the Discovery Channel during the second week of the month. If you’ve been living under a rock, Shark Week, now in its thirty-seventh year, is a week dedicated to all things shark. You know who I bet is a big fan of Shark Week? Jai Courtney’s character in Sean Byrne’s new movie Dangerous Animals—a film that, you guessed it, has sharks.

A couple on holiday decides to skip out on SeaWorld with their friends, opting instead to sleep in. That decision leads them to try something a little more thrilling: swimming with sharks. They find just the guy to make that happen—Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney), who owns a boat and promises them an unforgettable show. Unfortunately, they never return. Bruce uses them as shark bait, filming the carnage for his own twisted reasons.

Back on land, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) has just met Moses (Josh Heuston), and sparks seem to fly. But Zephyr is a loner who has trouble committing, and she heads to the beach to catch some waves. It’s there that she crosses paths with Tucker, who kidnaps her and brings her aboard his boat, planning to make her his next victim. But Zephyr won’t go down without a fight, and this time, Tucker may have bitten off more than he can chew.

Written by Nick Lepard, Dangerous Animals is a straightforward survival thriller that uses its mostly single-location setting to good effect. It benefits from a tight runtime of just over ninety minutes. While the first act takes a bit of time to get going, once it does, buckle up—it gets intense real fast. The film is filled with relentless tension, and every second on that boat feels like an eternity, especially as you realize where things are headed. The isolation of Tucker’s boat only amplifies the dread, and the vastness of the open ocean transforms it into an inescapable prison. The sun-soaked exteriors may look like postcards, but the real beauty—and terror—lies beneath the water.

Dangerous Animals is packed with suspense and a healthy dose of human depravity. It proves that sometimes, not even a bigger boat can save you. While the title might lead you to believe the sharks are the real threat, Byrne frames them with a sense of majesty. No, the true dangerous animal here is Tucker—played with chilling precision by Jai Courtney. He is perfectly cast as a sadistic predator who masks his menace behind his disarming charm. Hassie Harrison is also compelling, delivering a physical performance that stands toe-to-toe with Courtney’s psychotic energy.

Ultimately, Dangerous Animals thrives on discomfort. It puts you in Zephyr’s shoes and makes you feel her dread and helplessness. This is a film that has plenty to chew on—and once again reminds us that it was never safe to go in—or even on—the water.