Thriller/suspense/film noir

Film review by Jason Day of Dangerous Animals, the 2025 thriller about a young woman who is kidnapped and imprisoned on a boat by its deranged captain. Directed by Sean Byrne.

Synopsis

(Edited from IMDb.com): When Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), a savvy and free-spirited surfer, is abducted by shark-obsessed serial killer Bruce (Jai Courtney) and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below.

Review, by @Reelreviewer

I love shark attack movies so much, I don’t care if they are classics (Jaws, 1975), semi-classics (The Shallows, 2016 and Jaws 2, 1978 – yes, I like this movie!), worth watching but only diverting (Deep Blue Sea, 1999) or even if they are so bad they are ‘good’ (Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, and the Sharknado franchise).

I even manage to stay the distance for the worst type of movies that can be made – the mediocre ones – such as The Meg (2018) and now Dangerous Animals, a rare Australian entry in the shark attack subgenre of movies.

Given that the country is notorious for shark attacks, perhaps the rarity of this cinematic production isn’t unexpected, but it’s more surprising that the filmmakers have gone overboard with their effort.

The lead character is the descendant of Jaws‘ Quint – played with memorable relish by Robert Shaw – but with a psychological promotion. Where Quint was merely psychotic, Jai Courtney enjoys himself as a fully-fledged, murderous sociopath.

During the ‘friendly’ opening scenes, Courtney is a wily wit, a hulking brute with a glint in his eye and more going on in his head, as the power dynamics of the three ‘men’ in his boat are established. The first few minutes tell us how he operates, what he can get away with, but crucially, leave the audience wanting more about why he is so horrid.

It’s panto villainy but hugely enjoyable, the only real joy in the whole shebang as his character’s sociopathy isn’t properly explored and the ‘escape from the SS Nutty’ is drawn out and increasingly boring.

The kidnapped ‘pom’ Heather (Ella Newton, actually Australian), revealed when surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is unceremoniously chained up alongside her, has no marks on the handcuffs on her wrists. Has she just been lying in the bowls of Courtney’s boat, waiting to be rescued?

Harrison makes for a spunky survivalist, but there are long scenes in this film that come across like a Netflix ‘Original’ – little action and lots of talk in a confined space, saving on costs and robbing the viewer of decent action.

See the official trailer.

Cast & credits

Director: Sean Byrne. 1hr 38mins/2hr and 18mins. LD Entertainment/Brouhaha Entertainment/Range Media Partners/Oddfellows Entertainment. (15).

Producers: Chris Ferguson, Michael Glassman, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Mickey Liddell, Troy Lum, Pete Shilaimon.
Writer: Nick Lepard.
Camera: Shelley Farthing-Dawe.
Music: Michael Yezerski.
Sets: Pete Baxter.

Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney, Josh Heuston, Ella Newton, Liam Greinke, Rob Carlton.