‘Dangerous Animals’ Delivers One of Horror’s Greatest Villains in Years [Cannes 2025 Review]
Premiering out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Dangerous Animals marks the splashy and brutal return of Australian horror master Sean Byrne, the madman filmmaker behind cult classic The Loved Ones. And nearly a decade after the hardcore seriousness of his sophomore effort The Devil’s Candy, Byrne resurfaces with his most mainstream and viscerally entertaining film yet. This time he’s serving fish by way of a nasty, sun-drenched thriller that weaponizes genre familiarity with feral confidence. It may not rack up the highest body count, but what it lacks in volume, it more than makes up for in tension, originality, and one of the most exciting villain performances horror has seen in a long time.
The story centers on Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), a loner American surfer living out of her van in Australia while quietly avoiding the world. Meanwhile, something sinister is happening to unfortunate female tourists who find their way to Tucker’s Experience, a classic swim-with-the-sharks cage dive you’d have to put me in by gunpoint. Tucker, played by the thunderous Jai Courtney, just happens to be a serial killer who is luring women to gruesome ends, feeding them to sharks and privately archiving the footage for his own grotesque pleasure. A serial killer whose weapon is sharks? I love horror so much.
The film opens with a near-perfect sequence: just enough context to ground us, just enough suggestion to make our skin crawl, and then, suddenly, we’re in it. There’s no over-explaining, no bloated mythology—just efficient, unsettling worldbuilding that quickly gives way to a razor-tight rhythm. Byrne clearly knows what movie he’s making, and from the jump, he’s in full control of its momentum. It’s all jump, no shark. Except there’s also a lot of sharks.
While the film does feature a handful of sharp, shocking shark attacks, it resists becoming a bloodbath. Dangerous Animals thrives on tension, not gore. The horror here is rooted in control, dialogue, and what’s implied. It also succeeds by way of the precision with which its villain operates, and in the film’s merciless pacing. There are very few moments to exhale beneath the waves. Sure, the writing is a little clunky, but in this case, I could really care less.
Much of the film’s power hinges on Jai Courtney, who delivers a career-best performance as Tucker, the sadistic predator orchestrating the mayhem. Known mostly for his action roles in The Suicide Squad and Terminator Genisys, Courtney does something completely different here. With no mask (and often not much clothing), he builds his monster from the ground up, relying on body language, unnerving humor, and a disturbingly chill confidence. He’s charming, boorish, funny, and terrifying. At times he seems to be riffing on the idea of a “cool villain,” only to twist it into something darker and more dangerous. The film lives or dies with him, and luckily, he delivers in every frame.
Hassie Harrison is less exciting as Zephyr, especially by comparison to Courtney, yet gives a physically committed performance even if her emotional arc never quite finds full resonance. A romantic subplot with fellow beachside drifter Moses (Josh Heuston) feels soggy and unnecessary, offering occasional softness in a film otherwise made of bricks, but never adding much to the core story. Still, Harrison’s stoicism gives the film a clear, central spine to anchor the chaos around her. You gotta have someone to root for here.
Visually, and like its villain, Dangerous Animals is harsh and handsome. The cinematography leans into sun-bleached paranoia, and the editing keeps things tight without ever feeling rushed. Byrne excels at building atmosphere, especially when he lets the setting breathe—whether that’s through quiet surf sequences or silent glimpses of a predator watching from afar.
The film’s occasional stabs at commentary on tourism, ecological manipulation, and voyeurism are mostly left implied rather than explored. And that’s fine. This is a movie that wants to thrill, provoke, and disturb, not lecture. It’s old school. The tension feels real, the premise is unique, and its villain is unforgettable.
Dangerous Animals is Sean Byrne’s most accessible work to date, but it’s also one of his meanest. It’s a film that runs on momentum more than meaning, giving the genre a much-needed dose of grounded horror. Fans expecting a high body count may be surprised by its relative restraint, but anyone hungry for sharp direction, clever mechanics, and a star-making turn from Jai Courtney will find plenty to chew on.
Distributed by IFC Films and Shudder, Dangerous Animals will be unleashed in theaters on June 6, 2025.
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Dangerous Animals
Summary
‘Dangerous Animals’ blends slasher tension with creature-feature horror as Jai Courtney gives one of the most exciting unmasked villain performances in years.
