“Edge-of-Your-Seat” Shark Horror Movie ‘Dangerous Animals’ Climbs Prime Video Charts

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is considered not only the best shark movie of all time, but many consider it to be a masterpiece that transcends any one genre and is one of the all-time best films ever made. The movie inspired countless derivatives, some of which more obviously borrowed a page from what made the Peter Benchley adaptation work than others. It can be quite difficult to find new ways to frighten audiences under the guise of a “shark horror movie,” though many critics believed director Sean Byrne and writer Nick Lepard pulled off exactly that with their 2025 movie Dangerous Animals, which is #3 on the worldwide Prime Video charts.

Starring Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston, and Jai Courtney, the concept of the movie sounds so obvious that it’s shocking that no one has delivered it quite in this way before. Surfer Zephyr (Harrison) wants nothing more than to chase the biggest waves she can, even if Moses (Heuston) gives her something to stay on shore for. Unfortunately, a chance encounter with Tucker (Courtney) could mean Zephyr has caught her last wave. Tucker, largely under the guise of running a cage-diving business, is a serial killer who uses his knowledge of the ocean to feed his victims to killer sharks, all while filming the encounters for his sadistic delight.

‘Dangerous Animals’ Reinvented Shark Horror Movies

For decades, any horror movies featuring sharks had arguably the same plot: victims find themselves at the mercy of the killer fish, whether they were directly exposed to the animals at close range or if they had the safety of a boat. This premise was enough for most audiences, while movies like Orca or Piranha just used a similar format but swapped out the animal. Dangerous Animals, however, put a fresh spin on well-worn territory.

The nature of the story firmly puts this title in the realm of “shark horror,” though what makes the story so different is that the creatures aren’t the malevolent ones; they’re merely acting on instinct. It’s Tucker, who has an affinity for sharks and wants to keep them fed, that is the deranged one; it just so happens that his “weapon” of choice is the jaws of a shark.

Dangerous Animals currently sits at 87% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with Bloody Disgusting‘s Meagan Navarro calling the movie “visceral, edge-of-your-seat horror,” while also claiming that Courtney “delivers an electric, career-defining performance.” A majority of positive reviews, in fact, praise Courtney’s deranged yet charismatic performance as the movie’s biggest selling point.

Building an Impressive Resume

Dangerous Animals marks Byrne’s third feature film, with its critical acclaim and overall release in the U.S. easily becoming his biggest success, both critically and financially. The movie will open up new opportunities for the Australian filmmaker, though anyone familiar with his career knows that this success isn’t unfounded.

Byrne’s first movie, The Loved Ones, has a staggering 98% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes, but even with all that acclaim, it was released prior to the streaming boom of the mid-2010s, so it’s still relatively underseen. His next film, The Devil’s Candy, was his first American effort, which earned another impressive score with 93% positive. Hopefully the success of Dangerous Animals will cause more audiences to seek out his earlier efforts and see that his shark-themed outing is only the tip of the iceberg of what he has to offer.