Dangerous Animals opens in theaters Friday, June 6.
For years, Hollywood tried to make a blockbuster idol out of Jai Courtney, positioning him as the savior of past-their-prime franchises like Die Hard and Terminator. But playing the son of John McClane or an alternate-timeline Kyle Reese didn't suit an actor who seemed far more at home playing the DCEU’s dirtbag Captain Boomerang. He needs a freakier role in order to truly shine – say, a maniac with a thing for feeding women to sharks and dancing around in his underwear. That’s exactly the type of guy Courtney plays in Dangerous Animals, a survival-horror movie that lets the former Divergent star unleash his wild side while his character joyfully videotapes his victims being torn apart by razor-sharp teeth. Courtney understands the madness it takes to become a monster, and there’s a deadness in his gaze in Dangerous Animals that’s supremely unsettling (not to mention primitively shark-like).
This isn’t your typical hunter-killer thriller. Australian Director Sean Byrne draws a cutthroat ferocity out of Nick Lepard’s ambitious screenplay, pitting predators and prey against each other in a bloodthirsty genre mashup that lays out an aquatic creature feature on the blueprint of a violent slasher. A dash of Creep, a sprinkle of Wolf Creek, equal parts The Reef and Deep Blue Sea 3, and a healthy dose of psychological darkness are the ingredients that help Dangerous Animals swim out ahead of the rest of the school.
Courtney stars as the charming and sinister namesake of the Australian cage-diving operation “Tucker’s Experience.” Tourists book time on Tucker’s boat for up-close views of sharks and other ocean wildlife, but they wind up staying for a lot longer than they planned – and ultimately seeing the insides of great whites and makos. You see, the skipper’s parents weren’t very attentive; as a child, he was attacked by a shark, and has an abdominal scar and the mommy issues to prove it. Tucker’s sadism is leavened by Courtney’s jovial personality, whether he’s playing the drunken buffoon on a post-high kill or singing “Baby Shark” to calm nervous divers. Still, it’s the soullessness behind his eyes that one-ups more run-of-the-mill horror villains.
The action in Dangerous Animals may be limited to Tucker’s boat, but the film hardly feels detrimentally confined. Byrne made his debut with 2009’s The Loved Ones – in which a high-schooler traps the boy who turned down her prom invitation inside a nightmarish, at-home re-creation of said prom – so he’s no stranger to tapping into the fear of imprisonment. Here, Tucker stows his latest catch-of-the-day, American surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) in his ship’s hull, handcuffing her to a bed behind a thick steel door. We feel the terror in Zephyr’s predicament, but Dangerous Animals is emboldened by her determination to break free.
Harrison’s performance is dripping with grit and spirited defensiveness that counters Courtney’s chummier delivery. They’re an interesting physical match, too: There’s never any doubt that Zephyr is experienced enough in the water that she could swim to safety, yet Courtney still cuts such an imposing figure that we can only presume the worst is yet to come. They’re not the vessel’s only passengers – Josh Heuston and Ella Newton have supporting roles as Zephyr’s newfound love interest (adorably bonding over Creedence Clearwater Revival songs) and another one of Tucker’s prisoners, respectively – but this is Courtney and Harrison’s show. They each enthusiastically earn their spotlights.
Byrne knows how to wrangle a good exploitation picture, but Dangerous Animals’ biting edge can’t hide some stock B-movie plotting. Zephyr’s escape attempt becomes increasingly harmful, leaving noticeable scars, but they require some extreme suspension of disbelief. But some clever characterization for Tucker helped me look past all that. It’s a small detail, but he’s the type of killer who’s used to being in control, so when Zephyr or other characters get the upper hand on him, he’s rendered momentarily stunned. In that state, you can truly buy that Zephyr’s tenacity could overpower someone of Courtney’s rock-solid and muscly stature.
Most importantly, Dangerous Animals passes the all-important “show us your best sharks” test. Cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe works wonders underwater, conveying the crushing isolation of drifting aimlessly with Tucker and his toothy accessories to murder. Byrne’s blocking is meticulous: Threats are just out of view until entirely necessary. Then, when the beasts appear, it’s a harmonious blend of documentary filmmaking and digital effects. These aren’t the obviously animated maneaters of Into the Deep or The Black Demon – the sharks are shot in their natural habitats, but their bloody thrashing is all expertly deployed VFX. And even among all of this deep-sea dread, Dangerous Animals never forgets Tucker’s surface-level terrors. It succeeds in proving that humanity is far scarier than the animals we consider vicious monsters.
