Dangerous Animals (2025)

[“Dangerous Animals”] is a fusion film, but it’s a serial killer movie first and foremost, and it’s easy to delineate between the sub-genres. The sharks are Captain Tucker’s weapon in the same way that the knife is Michael Myers’ weapon, or the razor gloves that Freddy uses as a weapon. And that’s what got me excited about this film: this is the first movie where the shark is NOT the monster. The monster is Man.

There’s a bit of a sub-genre mash-up going on [in “Dangerous Animals”], but really it’s a survival thriller at the core of it. What’s unique is that we get to unpack these characters, and it's not your average shark film. They are not the indiscriminate killer threat [as they are in other movies]. Here, they are deployed by [my character] Tucker as part of his sick fantasy, and his misguided philosophy that he’s glued to the sharks in some ways, like he’s part of the same ecosystem. It touches on themes that we’re familiar with, but certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously. Some of those tropes are really celebrated within this film quite openly. It will be unlike anything people have seen before.

[“Dangerous Animals”] is a fresh take on genre, and it’s even genre-bending in some ways. There’s a rom-com element, the serial killer thing, it’s a shark movie, it’s funny. There’s really something for everyone here.

There's no one alive today who can play the "scumbag wildcard" quite like Jai Courtney. This is one of the big appeals of Dangerous Animals, a tightly constructed horror thriller set on the Australian coast. Courtney appears as Trevor, a jovial but monstrous serial killer who uses the local sharks as his means of murder. The film's tense plot benefits from strong moments of humanity brought to life by Hassie Harrison's charming, scrappy, and ultimately heart wrenching lead performance. At the core is Courtney, having a clear blast in the role that ends up infectiously fun in a dark way.