Dangerous Animals (2025)

A shark-cage tour captain with a camcorder and a private tape collection is the entire pitch, and the logic takes on water fast. Jai Courtney plays Tucker, who never got over a shark encounter as a kid, and he swings so big and so strange you can’t look away. Hassie Harrison plays Zephyr, a surfer living out of her van on the Gold Coast, the exact kind of traveler nobody reports missing. Josh Heuston’s Moses, a real estate agent she just met, does the smartest detective work in the movie by scrolling a beach webcam. Sean Byrne keeps it lean at 98 minutes and stages the boat scenes with real nerve. The plot is the problem: escapes, timing and a passing lifeguard helicopter bend to fit the next scene. Critics sit at 87%, CinemaScore crowds handed it a B, and a reported $2 million budget became $9.3 million worldwide. A 6.6 because Courtney’s villain is worth the trip and the story is held together with fishing line. $4,664 says you read every review before your next boat tour.

What works: Jai Courtney goes fully unhinged as Tucker, and Byrne keeps the tension tight and the ocean looking sleek and dangerous.

What doesn’t: The plot leans hard on convenient timing and shaky logic, and a lot of it feels borrowed from older survival thrillers.

Who it’s for: Genre fans after a lean creature feature where the scariest animal is the guy steering the boat.