The prestigious Cannes Film Festival is where Oscar winners are born (such as Anora and Parasite), where beloved auteurs debut their latest works (such as Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest this year) and this year, it's also where a horror movie about a shark-obsessed serial killer premieres.
Dangerous Animals is the third movie from Australian director Sean Byrne whose previous movies – The Loved Ones (2009) and The Devil's Candy (2015) – were both critically acclaimed and beloved by horror fans. It's a high bar he's set himself, but you'll know before the title even comes up that he's done it again.
The movie opens with backpackers Heather (Ella Newton) and Greg (Liam Greinke) stumbling upon Tucker's Experience, which promises a close-up experience with sharks. Little do they know just how close they'll get as Greg is killed by Tucker (Jai Courtney) shortly after their experience, and dispatched into the ocean for the sharks to feast on.
Heather is left to be a later snack and the manner in which Tucker kills his victims is truly horrifying. But even before we get to that brutal scene, you'll be hooked on Dangerous Animals thanks to Courtney's superb performance, one of his best to date. From the opening scene, he walks the fine line between charismatic and menacing, dryly funny and chilling.
Tucker is the best kind of horror villain who you can't help but enjoy watching. He is a killer happy to tuck into his dinner watching a video of one of his previous victims dying, yet is also prone to dancing half-naked in a kimono while swigging from a bottle of wine.
His counterpart in Dangerous Animals isn't Heather (sorry Heather), but vagabond surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) who is abducted by Tucker and brought on-board. You can spot Zephyr's arc instantly; she's somebody who has "nothing to live for on land" and only feels free on the ocean, so you know she'll find something to live for.
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Harrison's engaging performance gives depth to Zephyr and ensures that as much as you enjoy watching Tucker, you'll also want her to survive. It's a classic Final Girl performance, including a gory moment with her thumb that is not for the squeamish.
It's far from the only shocking moment in Dangerous Animals too. Byrne doesn't shy away from the horrifying nature of Tucker's killing method, using a crane to slowly lower his victims into the ocean for the sharks below. As a piece of horror filmmaking, it's highly effective and innovative, and when Zephyr becomes in peril, it's intense to watch too.
Unlike Jaws and other shark-based horrors, the movie is very clear on the fact that the only monster here is Tucker, not the sharks. Byrne intended it to "correct the cruel misconception" of sharks, and while it might not entirely lead to that, the use of real-life footage of sharks does showcase them in a less terrifying state.
While things might get increasingly ridiculous in its final act, Dangerous Animals has built up enough goodwill that you'll be fully invested and happy to go along for the twisted ride.
It's quite unlike any serial killer horror you've seen.
Dangerous Animals is out now in UK and Ireland cinemas.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
