As a young boy, Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney) was bitten by a shark who only released him again in the very last second. To date, the scar of the huge bit comprises its half -up body. But instead of hating the animals or at least afraid of them, he even reveres them. As a small business owner, he regularly offers tours on the Australian coast so that tourists swim with the sharks in a steel cage and thus experience the majestic aura of the elegant sea robbers up close.
If it were a true biography, she would like to be perfect for an edifying Netflix documentary, right? So in the style of “My teacher, the octopus”, ie thin and tend to be kitschy in terms of content, but because when looking at everyone, the Oscar still exists as the best documentary.
Tierlieber serial killer
But I threaten to push. Because bruces idolatry of the sharks goes so far that this should be rather difficult with the deal for a streaming documentary: after all, the cutter captain not only drives to the sea with his vacationing customers-he also kidnaps them in order to then feed them ceremonial (and recorded with an old camera on VHS cashets).
The Australian director Sean Byrne last delivered the outstanding occult metal shocker “The Devil's Candy” ten years ago. However, even better known is his feature film debut “The Loved Ones-Pretty in Blood”, which at fans held the status of a modern classic, because the prom-torture tortures were so merciless. A quality that now also at “Dangerous Animals“Becomes clearly visible once again.
Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney) stored the live food for his shark friends in the cargo-of-freight dream of his cutter.
Nevertheless, even Sean Byrne was surprised that his film was invited to Cannes: “To be the first shark film that was ever officially selected for Cannes was somehow incredible. And then also in the Directors' Fortnight, which is traditionally a very Cinephil section-that was a great sign of trust.” “Dangerous Animals” is by no means the first horror production that was shown in the section-but usually “upscale” genre films such as “Men” (Alex Garland), “The Lighthouse” (Robert Eggers) or “in Flames” (Zarrar Kahn) are usually there. A straightforward serial killer thriller with voracious sharks, on the other hand, does not fall into the usual prey scheme of the program makers …
… and possibly that was so enthusiastically received by the cinema-supervised audience! “Dangerous Animals” certainly does not reinvent the bike and never tries to be more than he is. But sometimes the pure genre tendency is enough if it is only well enough: On paper, the story definitely has what it takes to become the usual shark trash for the most back video stores-but then it is directed, camera and, above all, the actors are all much better than one should expect from such a raised robber gun.
Moses (Josh Heuston) is already fidgeting in the device, with which serial killer Bruce Tucker regularly feeds his favorite animals attracted with fresh blood.
The Texan newcomer Hassie Harrison (“Yellowstone”) is a little reminiscent of Jennifer Lawrence in the “Panem” films: You take the surfing sole, who not only breaks the thumb, but even tears it off to escape the handcuffs at any time. For a change, a not stupid final girl-and even her one-night stand of Moses, who initially looks like a Mormone, turns out to be surprisingly likeable thanks to Josh Heuston's game (in “Thor 4” as a Zeus' Pretty Boy).
But of course the lasting performance provides “Terminator: Genisys” and “Suicide Squad” star Jai Courtney: For his role as a stocky, flush-headed serial killer, he spent a lot of time in aquariums to actually build an proximity to sharks. But even if the feeding sequences-also because the effect attempt has made the remaining quarter body quite credible-are actually pretty creepy, it is a “reservoir dogs”-like dance sequence that is all that top: Courtney itself was so embarrassing that it is only in alcoholized state with chief cameraman Shelley Farthing-Dawe (“Outlaws”). It was worth it!
Conclusion: The concept sounds like pure trash, but Sean Byrne delivers a handcrafted and above all played serial killer shocker with “Dangerous Animals”-in which genre fans are offered the bloody shark inlays as a nice extra.
We saw “Dangerous Animals” as part of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where he celebrated his world premiere in the official program of Directors' Fortnight.