Anna Daniels
“You can’t say this isn’t the best show on Earth.” That’s the catchy phrase for Dangerous Animals, Sean Byrne’s eagerly awaited return to the horror genre. After viewing the trailer, you might feel excited, nauseated, or a mix of both.
IFC Films has just released the full trailer for Dangerous Animals, delivering the twisted, high-stakes survival horror you’d expect from the mind behind The Loved Ones. Hassie Harrison stars as Zephyr, a surfer who gets kidnapped by a shark-loving serial killer (played by Jai Courtney, who radiates menace). Is he training sharks… or using women as bait? The concept? Think of Jaws meets The Silence of the Lambs, but with even more grit and bloodshed.
Byrne’s last feature film was The Devil’s Candy (2015), and this trailer demonstrates that his unique style is still very much intact. There’s intense tension, relentless sharks, and a spine-chilling performance from Courtney. But here’s the key question: Is this merely for shock, or is there more to uncover?
- Deeper Meaning or Just Gore? The trailer suggests ritualistic elements—do the sharks represent primal fears, or are they just a vehicle for bloodshed?
- Byrne’s Unique Touch: His previous works (The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy) balanced horror with emotional depth. Will Dangerous Animals maintain this balance, or is it purely about survival terror?
This isn’t the first time sharks have been paired with serial killers (Deep Blue Sea meets Crawl), but Byrne’s method seems distinct. Rather than being a straightforward survival story like The Shallows (2016), Dangerous Animals leans into psychological horror, making the human antagonist even more terrifying than the sharks lurking below.
“Is he training these sharks, or simply feeding girls to them?” The trailer doesn’t provide an answer, which adds to its allure. Byrne often melds the characteristics of monster and man—could this become his most unsettling project yet?
If you enjoy horror that stays with you, Dangerous Animals could be your quintessential summer scare. However, if you’re sensitive to gore… you might want to stick to Finding Nemo.
Are you willing to watch it, or is this a bit too intense? Share your thoughts below.
Dangerous Animals: Official Trailer | Jai Courtney | HD | IFC Films
Trapped on a killer’s boat with hungry sharks circling below, a surfer must outwit a predator more dangerous than the ocean itself-will she escape, or become the next offering to the deep? Sean Byrne returns with his third visceral feature, DANGEROUS ANIMALS, exclusively in theaters June 6, 2025.
