Latest news with #DangerousAnimals'
Tom's Guide
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
The best shark movie of the year is now streaming — and it makes ‘Jaws' look like a day at the beach
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the apex shark thriller 'Jaws,' and if Steven Spielberg's masterful classic made you too scared to go swimming in the ocean, wait until you've seen 'Dangerous Animals.' As if an oversized great white with razor-sharp teeth wasn't scary enough, 'Dangerous Animals' increases the fear factor by also throwing a deranged serial killer into the mix, and it's just as unhinged as that sounds. This intense thriller is easily the best shark movie I've seen this year (though the competition isn't fierce with Hulu's 'Into the Deep' a real stinker). This Sean Byrne-directed survival thriller swam into theatres in early June, but it's finally ready to swim into new waters as it's now available to stream on premium video-on-demand via platforms like Amazon and Apple. And this taunt and tense thriller is definitely worth the rental fee. You'll come for the sharks, but trust me, you'll stay for Jai Courtney's deliciously sinister performance. Here's everything you need to know about 'Dangerous Animals.' Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is an American drifter and surf-obsessive currently trawling through Australia's Gold Coast. After a romantic encounter with realtor Moses (John Heuston), Zephyr's commitment issues surface, and she flees the scene of their hookup. Going for a nighttime surf to clear her head, she encounters Tucker (Jai Courtney), an initially friendly stranger whose horrific true intentions quickly come to light. Abducted by this deranged psychopath, Zephyr awakens handcuffed to a bed in the hull of Tucker's boat. Tucker soon reveals his sadistic ritual, which sees him kidnap victims and then feed them to a pack of hungry sharks while filming the brutal act on a battered old camera. With time ticking away before she becomes fish food herself, Zephyr desperately tries to escape. 'Dangerous Animals' sets out its stall extremely early. The opening sequence introduces us to Tucker, and from this very first appearance, it's abundantly clear that he is somebody best avoided at all costs. It's a shame his first on-screen victims don't see that and pay the price. I've been pretty critical of Jai Courtney's work in awful movies like 2016's 'Suicide Squad' and 'Terminator Genisys' in the past, but the Australian actor absolutely nails his part here. Tucker is the best part of the movie. He's a terrifying presence, completely deranged and downright evil, but Courtney lights up the screen and creates a very memorable antagonist. It's a shame the same can't be said for the hero of the piece, Zephyr. It's not that Hassie Harrison does anything wrong, but the character's arc of transition from a lone-wolf to somebody willing to accept help from others, in this case, Heuston's Moses, is predictable. But really, with a movie like 'Dangerous Animals,' you're not here for the character arcs; it's all about the bloodshed, and this movie does not disappoint. Tucker's cameracord is used quite creatively to give the movie almost a 'snuff film' quality. This really adds to the sense of unease as we see the killer string up victims and plunge them into shark-infested waters. Being attacked by sharks while going for a pleasant swim is one thing to be afraid of, but being tied up, hoisted into the air, and then slowly lowered into a circling pit of sharks is beyond nightmare-inducing, and 'Dangerous Animals' isn't shy about showing the horrific results of Tucker's disturbing method of murder. Those easily frightened should steer clear. Viewers looking for a watertight narrative should probably also give this one a miss. 'Dangerous Animals' has a lot going for it, but it does see character turn off their common sense a little too often, and there are some story beats as flimsy as soggy cardboard. But, for me, these flaws never amounted to more than mere distractions to the real show stealer: Jai Courtney's Tucker, and watching (sometimes through my fingers) his horrific actions. On the surface, 'Dangerous Animals' might have the appearance of a trashy gorefest, but there's quite a bit more to this well-constructed horror-thriller than meets the eye. Director Sean Byrne does a great job contrasting the movie's picturesque location of the Gold Coast with the murderous actions of its antagonist, and the sound design is seriously punchy. For these reasons, and the others highlighted above, I'm not surprised to see that 'Dangerous Animals' was a bit of a critical darling. Shark movies are often dismissed as 'guilty pleasures' or just outright torn to shreds by critics, but not in this case. The movie holds a strong 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes, enough for a 'Certified Fresh' badge. 'Stuffed to the gills with memorable shocks and a thrillingly unhinged heel turn by Jai Courtney, Dangerous Animals will be irresistible chum for horror aficionados,' reads RT's 'Critics Consensus,' and I'm glad to see Courtney's work getting called out for praise. So, if you thought 'Jaws' was too tame, or just want a reason to be absolutely terrified of ever going swimming in the ocean all over again, 'Dangerous Animals' is a shark movie you don't want to skip. Perhaps its biggest strength is that it makes its protagonist unsafe both in the water and on dry land, so there's no escaping or moment to catch your breath. 'Dangerous Animals' isn't the only new movie arriving on streaming this week. Here's a guide to the best new releases across platforms. Plus, horror fans also won't want to miss this new chiller starring Sally Hawkins from the directors behind 2023's 'Talk to Me.'
Tom's Guide
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
5 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, HBO Max and more (July 22-28)
We're in the middle of summer, and the weather outside is certainly good enough that sitting at home watching movies might not be your top priority. However, the best streaming services are hoping to tempt you to stay indoors with a host of new flicks to watch this week. The biggest arrival is the debut of the long-awaited sports sequel 'Happy Gilmore 2' on Netflix. Adam Sandler is once again donning the hockey jersey of one of his most beloved comedy characters and stepping back onto the green for another round of anger-fueled golf. Plus, in the premium video-on-demand streaming world, 'Dangerous Animals' and 'Materialists' are hoping to convince you they're worth the rental fee, and they both make a good case for themselves. Below are my picks for the top new movies you can stream this week across all the biggest streaming services around. And don't forget to check out our companion guide to the best new TV shows you'll want to binge-watch over the next seven days. 'Jaws' is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, but if revisiting the Steve Speilberg classic isn't enough shark action for you, you might want to consider 'Dangerous Animals,' which frankly makes 'Jaws' look like a pleasant day at the beach. While the flimsy narrative has more holes in it than a surfboard chewed by a great white, Jai Courtney's deliciously unhinged performance is reason enough to give this intense thriller a watch. Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is a drifter traveling around Australia's sunny Gold Coast who is abducted by a deranged serial killer called Tucker (Courtney) while going for a spot of surfing late at night. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Awaking chained to a bed in the hull of a rusty boat, Zephyr learns that Tucker has an obsession with sharks and feeds his various victims to these sharp-toothed sea creatures while filming the whole thing on a battered old camcorder. With time running out, Zephyr must find a way to escape and stop Tucker's reign of terror before she can become shark chum. Buy or rent on Amazon from July 21 In 2023, writer/director Celine Song blew me away with 'Past Lives.' It was among my favorite films of the year, and to this day ranks as perhaps the most heartachingly romantic movie I've ever watched. Her follow-up is 'Materialists,' and while the reception hasn't been quite as universally positive as it was for her debut, I'm still very eager to check this out. More of a romantic comedy than a romantic drama, and mining the well-worn genre trope of trying to find love in the increasingly tumultuous modern dating world, 'Materialists' stars Dakota Johnson as a New York City matchmaker who finds himself stuck in a thorny love triangle. On one side is the seemingly perfect guy (Pedro Pascal), and on the other is her imperfect ex-boyfriend (Chris Evans). Good luck choosing between them. Buy or rent on Amazon from July 21 I previously named "Until Dawn" as one of the top five worst movies I've seen in theatres in 2025 so far (and I've seen nearly 50 of them), so I can't exactly give this slasher horror a ringing endorsement. But, if you're a huge fan of the 2014 video game which inspired it, or just want a trashy horror that you can watch while also mocking alongside friends or a loved one, then 'Until Dawn' might fit the bill. At least now it's on Netflix, you don't have to pay a rental fee. This is a video game adaptation that is very loosely inspired by the PlayStation title from which it takes its name, as the characters, setting and location have all been changed. Instead of taking place in a snowy mountaintop cabin like the game, this version of 'Until Dawn' sees a group of friends trapped in a secluded house, and also stuck in a time loop. Each new loop brings a new terror, and it's their mission to survive the night and break free. Watch on Netflix from July 24 'Death of a Unicorn' is a horror-comedy with moments of fun, but it never quite manages to blend the two genres successfully enough to take full advantage of its admittedly novel premise. It falls into a less-exciting middle ground, and the subpar effects on the titular mythical creatures don't help much either. At least, a solid cast adds some star power with Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega and Richard E. Grant all involved and giving it their all throughout. The movie opens with a father (Rudd) and his spiky teenage daughter (Ortega) heading to an important business weekend where the former hopes to complete a lucrative business deal. On the way, they accidentally hit and kill a unicorn. Bringing the creature's corpse to the home of the father's billionaire boss kickstarts a chain of increasingly chaotic events. As the wealthy Leopold family, headed up by the smarmy Odell (Grant), looks to exploit the unicorn's healing properties for personal financial gain, nature fights back as a pack of vicious horned creatures arrive on the scene and cause complete chaos. Watch on HBO Max from July 25 Andy Sandler is stepping back onto the green as the long-awaited sequel to 'Happy Gilmore' arrives on Netflix this week. It's been almost 30 years since we last saw Gilmore, but it doesn't appear he's done all that much maturing in those decades. Based on the trailers, this comedy looks just as rage-fueled and loud-mouthed as its predecessor. Curiously, the plot of 'Happy Gilmore 2' is being kept under wraps, with Netflix itself not even offering an official logline, but based on the trailer, we can surmise that the sequel sees Gilmore come out of retirement and return to the professional golf scene to pay for his daughter's ballet school. It seems a standard setup for a sequel, but maybe there's a hidden twist? Questions can be asked about whether we need a 'Happy Gilmore' sequel after all this time, but I'm confident this original movie will be a Netflix hit and go straight to No. 1 in the streaming service's top 10 most-watched list. Watch on Netflix from July 25
Toronto Sun
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
REVIEW: ‘Jaws' meets ‘Silence of the Lambs' in ‘Dangerous Animals'
Published Jun 06, 2025 • 3 minute read Hassie Harrison in "Dangerous Animals." Photo by Courtesy of Mark Taylor / IFC Film Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Half a century after Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' stirred fear and fascination by painting sharks as bloodthirsty monsters of the sea, the tongue-in-cheek horror thriller 'Dangerous Animals' gets its kicks watching a predator in cargo shorts and flip-flops – not one with a dorsal fin and sharp teeth – toying with his prey. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In a sharksploitation subgenre teeming with ridiculous premises (see: 'Ouija Shark,' 'Cocaine Shark,' etc.) and plenty of atrocious CGI, this vicious little Australian import is a breath of fresh oxygen. Lean, mean and bloody, director Sean Byrne's latest (he made 'The Devil's Candy') finds a fresh way into the annals of survival horror by pitting surfer vs. serial killer on the open seas, and as a corrective of sorts to the 'Jaws effect.' Here, it's not the carnivorous fishies its heroine should be worried about, but the sociopath with a misogynist streak trawling nearby waters. Hassie Harrison ('Yellowstone') stars as Zephyr, an itinerant American surfer in Australia who gets cold feet after a meet-cute with sensitive real estate agent Moses (Josh Heuston, stretching a thin role far enough to sell the connection). Ditching him after a passionate night together, she crosses paths with a stranger only to awake handcuffed in the bowels of a boat at sea in a nightmare scenario straight out of 'Saw.' Like February's slasher mash-up 'Heart Eyes,' 'Dangerous Animals' uses rom-com conventions to raise the stakes: Can this guarded loner escape a serial killer so she can learn to let down her walls and un-ghost her maybe-soulmate? Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Not if her captor can help it. Played with nutty aplomb by Jai Courtney, Bruce Tucker (Bruce being the nickname given to the mechanical shark in 'Jaws,' one of this movie's many homages) is a local charter boat captain and diving guide who's made a hobby of kidnapping female tourists and using them as chum for his own twisted VHS snuff movies. Sunburned and sadistic, Tucker fancies himself an apex predator. After surviving a childhood great white attack, with the gnarly scars to prove it, he knows how to weaponize that down-under charm to disarm his unsuspecting victims, even if he mostly relies on sharks to do his killing. Byrne wisely unleashes Courtney whenever possible, starting with a playful but foreboding prologue when meek English student Heather (Ella Newton) and her arrogant hostel hookup (Liam Greinke) arrive at Tucker's dock seeking oceanic thrills. Capturing sunbaked postcard hues along Queensland's Gold Coast and the eerie glow of Tucker's ramshackle boat by night, cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe turns ocean vistas from bright and welcoming to portentous in the blink of a sunset, and gives underwater scenes featuring footage of real sharks an unnerving sense of gravity and grace. Horror and humor go hand in hand throughout as Tucker and Zephyr face off and Moses valiantly attempts to find her, though an intermittently screechy score overplays tense moments to the point of distraction. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Courtney's beastly performance remains the main attraction, electric whether he's crooning 'Baby Shark,' casually slicing jugulars or showing off drunken dance moves in his underwear a la Buffalo Bill in 'The Silence of the Lambs.' And he's quietly chilling as he explains his impulse to subjugate 'weaker creatures' in the name of order. Still, it's Harrison who carries the movie with steeliness and smarts. The film hints at common childhood wounds that sent predator and prey – or is it predator and predator? – on different paths of survival, but it doesn't probe very deeply, instead more interested in putting Zephyr through her gory final-girl paces. As her attempts at escape turn repetitious, the script by Nick Lepard never quite figures out how to fill its 98-minute run time with new cat-and-mouse (or shark-and-marlin, as Tucker dubs her) twists, and 'Dangerous Animals' loses steam treading familiar trope-filled waters en route to an oddly mawkish ending. At least it knows not to take itself too seriously – even if it did have its world premiere at the recent Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight. Spielberg's shark movie crown is still safe for the moment, even if the waters still aren't. Happy summer. – – – Two and one-half stars. Rated R. At theatres. Contains grisly violence, language, sex, drugs and sharks. 98 minutes. Rating guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time. Olympics NHL Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Ontario
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Back in shark-laden waters, 'Dangerous Animals' is a horror film with tired blood
Sean Byrne knows how to show an audience a bad time. Sixteen years ago, the Australian filmmaker launched onto the scene with 'The Loved Ones,' his proudly grisly debut about a misfit teenager who gets gruesome revenge on the boy who refused to go to prom with her. Part expert torture porn, part exploration of adolescent romantic anxieties, the film was an instant midnight-madness cult item that took Byrne six years to follow up. When he did, he went in a different tonal direction with 'The Devil's Candy,' a surprisingly emotional psychological thriller about a heavy-metal-loving painter who moves his family to a beautifully rustic home, only to lose his mind. Working in recognizable horror subgenres, Byrne entices you with a familiar premise and then slowly teases apart the tropes, leaving you unsettled but also invigorated by his inventiveness. It has now been a decade since that distinctive riff on 'The Shining,' and for Byrne's third feature, he once again pillages from indelible sources. 'Dangerous Animals' draws from both the serial-killer thriller and Hollywood's penchant for survival stories about hungry sharks feasting on human flesh. But unlike in the past, Byrne's new movie never waylays you with a surprise narrative wrinkle or unexpected thematic depth. He hasn't lost his knack for generating bad vibes, but this time he hasn't brought anything else to the party. The movie stars Hassie Harrison as Zephyr, a solitary surfer who explains in on-the-nose dialogue that she prefers the danger of open water to the unhappiness of life on land. An American in Australia who grew up in foster homes and who lives in a beat-up old van, Zephyr encounters Moses (Josh Heuston), a straitlaced nice guy whom she hooks up with. Not that she wants him developing feelings for her: She takes off in the middle of the night so she can catch some waves. Unfortunately, Zephyr is the one who gets caught — by Tucker (Jai Courtney), a deceptively gregarious boat captain who kidnaps her. Next thing she knows, she's chained up inside his vessel out at sea, alongside another female victim, Heather (Ella Newton). Read more: The 27 best movie theaters in Los Angeles Like many a movie serial killer, Tucker isn't just interested in murdering his prey — he wants to make something artistic out of his butchery. And so he ties Heather to a crane and dangles her in the water like a giant lure, pulling out a camcorder to record her final moments as sharks devour her. Watching his victims struggle to stay alive is cinema to this twisted soul and Zephyr will be his next unwitting protagonist. Working from a script by visual artist Nick Lepard, Byrne (who wrote his two previous features) digs into the story's B-movie appeal. Tucker may use old-fashioned technology to record his kills, but 'Dangerous Animals' is set in the present, even if its trashy, drive-in essence would have made it better suited to come out 50 years ago as counterprogramming to "Jaws." With Zephyr's tough-girl demeanor and Tucker's creepy vibe, Byrne knowingly plays into genre clichés, setting up the inevitable showdown between the beauty and the beast. But despite that juicy setup, 'Dangerous Animals' is a disappointingly straightforward and ultimately underwhelming horror movie, offering little of the grim poetry of Byrne's previous work and far too much of the narrative predictability that in the past he astutely sidestepped. There are still subversive ideas — for one thing, this is a shark film with precious few sharks — but Byrne's sneaky smarts have largely abandoned him. Rather than transcending expectations, 'Dangerous Animals' surrenders to them. One can't fault Harrison, whose Zephyr spends much of the movie in a battle of wills with her captor. Because 'Dangerous Animals' limits the amount of sharks we see, digitally inserting footage of the deadly creatures into scenes, the story's central tension comes from Zephyr trying to free herself or get help before Tucker prepares his next nautical snuff film. Harrison projects a ferocious determination that's paired with an intense loathing for this condescending, demented misogynist. It's bad enough that Tucker wants to murder her — beforehand, he wants to bore her with shark trivia, dully advocating for these misunderstood animals. It's an underdeveloped joke: 'Dangerous Animals' is a nightmare about meeting the mansplainer from hell. Alas, Courtney's conception of the film's true dangerous animal is where the story truly runs aground. The actor's handsome, vaguely blank countenance is meant to suggest a burly, hunky everyman — the sort of person you'd never suspect or look twice at, which makes Tucker well-positioned to leave a trail of corpses in his path. But neither Byrne nor Courtney entirely gets their arms around this conventionally unhinged horror villain. 'Dangerous Animals' overly underlines its point that we shouldn't be afraid of sharks — it's the Tuckers who ought to keep us up at night — but Courtney never captures the unfathomable malice beneath the facial scruff. We root for Zephyr to escape Tucker's clutches not because he's evil but because he's a bit of a stiff. Even with those deficiencies, the film boasts a level of craft that keeps the story fleet, with Byrne relying on the dependable tension of a victim trapped at sea with her pursuer, sharks waiting in the waters surrounding her. Michael Yezerski's winkingly emphatic score juices every scare as the gore keeps ratcheting up — particularly during a moment when Zephyr finds an unexpected way to break out of handcuffs. But Byrne can't redeem the script's boneheaded plot twists, nor can he elevate the most potentially intriguing idea at its core. As Tucker peers into his viewfinder, getting off on his victims' screams as sharks sink their jaws into them, 'Dangerous Animals' hints at the fixation horror directors such as Byrne have for presenting us with unspeakable terrors, insisting we love the bloodshed as much as they do. Tucker tries to convince Zephyr that they're not all that different — they're both sharks, you see — but in truth, Byrne may be suggesting an uncomfortable kinship with his serial killer. But instead of provocatively pursuing that unholy bond, the director only finds chum. Sign up for Indie Focus, a weekly newsletter about movies and what's going on in the wild world of cinema. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Back in shark-laden waters, ‘Dangerous Animals' is a horror film with tired blood
Sean Byrne knows how to show an audience a bad time. Sixteen years ago, the Australian filmmaker launched onto the scene with 'The Loved Ones,' his proudly grisly debut about a misfit teenager who gets gruesome revenge on the boy who refused to go to prom with her. Part expert torture porn, part exploration of adolescent romantic anxieties, the film was an instant midnight-madness cult item that took Byrne six years to follow up. When he did, he went in a different tonal direction with 'The Devil's Candy,' a surprisingly emotional psychological thriller about a heavy-metal-loving painter who moves his family to a beautifully rustic home, only to lose his mind. Working in recognizable horror subgenres, Byrne entices you with a familiar premise and then slowly teases apart the tropes, leaving you unsettled but also invigorated by his inventiveness. It has now been a decade since that distinctive riff on 'The Shining,' and for Byrne's third feature, he once again pillages from indelible sources. 'Dangerous Animals' draws from both the serial-killer thriller and Hollywood's penchant for survival stories about hungry sharks feasting on human flesh. But unlike in the past, Byrne's new movie never waylays you with a surprise narrative wrinkle or unexpected thematic depth. He hasn't lost his knack for generating bad vibes, but this time he hasn't brought anything else to the party. The movie stars Hassie Harrison as Zephyr, a solitary surfer who explains in on-the-nose dialogue that she prefers the danger of open water to the unhappiness of life on land. An American in Australia who grew up in foster homes and who lives in a beat-up old van, Zephyr encounters Moses (Josh Heuston), a straitlaced nice guy whom she hooks up with. Not that she wants him developing feelings for her: She takes off in the middle of the night so she can catch some waves. Unfortunately, Zephyr is the one who gets caught — by Tucker (Jai Courtney), a deceptively gregarious boat captain who kidnaps her. Next thing she knows, she's chained up inside his vessel out at sea, alongside another female victim, Heather (Ella Newton). Like many a movie serial killer, Tucker isn't just interested in murdering his prey — he wants to make something artistic out of his butchery. And so he ties Heather to a crane and dangles her in the water like a giant lure, pulling out a camcorder to record her final moments as sharks devour her. Watching his victims struggle to stay alive is cinema to this twisted soul and Zephyr will be his next unwitting protagonist. Working from a script by visual artist Nick Lepard, Byrne (who wrote his two previous features) digs into the story's B-movie appeal. Tucker may use old-fashioned technology to record his kills, but 'Dangerous Animals' is set in the present, even if its trashy, drive-in essence would have made it better suited to come out 50 years ago as counterprogramming to 'Jaws.' With Zephyr's tough-girl demeanor and Tucker's creepy vibe, Byrne knowingly plays into genre clichés, setting up the inevitable showdown between the beauty and the beast. But despite that juicy setup, 'Dangerous Animals' is a disappointingly straightforward and ultimately underwhelming horror movie, offering little of the grim poetry of Byrne's previous work and far too much of the narrative predictability that in the past he astutely sidestepped. There are still subversive ideas — for one thing, this is a shark film with precious few sharks — but Byrne's sneaky smarts have largely abandoned him. Rather than transcending expectations, 'Dangerous Animals' surrenders to them. One can't fault Harrison, whose Zephyr spends much of the movie in a battle of wills with her captor. Because 'Dangerous Animals' limits the amount of sharks we see, digitally inserting footage of the deadly creatures into scenes, the story's central tension comes from Zephyr trying to free herself or get help before Tucker prepares his next nautical snuff film. Harrison projects a ferocious determination that's paired with an intense loathing for this condescending, demented misogynist. It's bad enough that Tucker wants to murder her — beforehand, he wants to bore her with shark trivia, dully advocating for these misunderstood animals. It's an underdeveloped joke: 'Dangerous Animals' is a nightmare about meeting the mansplainer from hell. Alas, Courtney's conception of the film's true dangerous animal is where the story truly runs aground. The actor's handsome, vaguely blank countenance is meant to suggest a burly, hunky everyman — the sort of person you'd never suspect or look twice at, which makes Tucker well-positioned to leave a trail of corpses in his path. But neither Byrne nor Courtney entirely gets their arms around this conventionally unhinged horror villain. 'Dangerous Animals' overly underlines its point that we shouldn't be afraid of sharks — it's the Tuckers who ought to keep us up at night — but Courtney never captures the unfathomable malice beneath the facial scruff. We root for Zephyr to escape Tucker's clutches not because he's evil but because he's a bit of a stiff. Even with those deficiencies, the film boasts a level of craft that keeps the story fleet, with Byrne relying on the dependable tension of a victim trapped at sea with her pursuer, sharks waiting in the waters surrounding her. Michael Yezerski's winkingly emphatic score juices every scare as the gore keeps ratcheting up — particularly during a moment when Zephyr finds an unexpected way to break out of handcuffs. But Byrne can't redeem the script's boneheaded plot twists, nor can he elevate the most potentially intriguing idea at its core. As Tucker peers into his viewfinder, getting off on his victims' screams as sharks sink their jaws into them, 'Dangerous Animals' hints at the fixation horror directors such as Byrne have for presenting us with unspeakable terrors, insisting we love the bloodshed as much as they do. Tucker tries to convince Zephyr that they're not all that different — they're both sharks, you see — but in truth, Byrne may be suggesting an uncomfortable kinship with his serial killer. But instead of provocatively pursuing that unholy bond, the director only finds chum.
