Dangerous Animals
IFC Films | Release Date: June 6, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
86
Paste MagazineJim VorelJun 6, 2025
It’s fascinating and enlivening to watch how the fusion of two intensely familiar subgenres–serial killer thriller and shark-starring B-movie–can result in a work that is somehow brimming with life and verve. Read full review
83
Original-CinLiz BraunJun 4, 2025
It’s all claustrophobic and terrible and … wildly entertaining. Read full review
80
Little White LiesAnton BitelJun 6, 2025
There is a strong metacinematic element to all this showmanship, and as Zephyr must work out just how much like Tucker she is capable of being, we too are confronted with the nature of our own spectatorship, uncomfortably similar to Tucker’s, for in our window seat on events, we are no captive audience. Read full review
80
IGNMatt DonatoJun 5, 2025
It’s more than a creature feature, but never in a way that undercuts the main event: Some truly startling above-and-underwater sequences. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMay 23, 2025
It takes a steady hand to pull off a horror film as outlandish as Dangerous Animals – a movie, lest we forget, that is literally about dangerous animals – but Byrne has pulled off something slick and confident here. It’ll keep horror fans out of the water for years. Read full review
78
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJun 4, 2025
Sinister even when it’s slyly winking at its audience, it’s a satisfying meal of tasty horror cheese. Read full review
78
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 3, 2025
Dangerous Animals is like a bowl of shark-fin soup laced with a dollop of vegemite: not exactly good for either you, your taste buds or the environment, but strangely compelling nonetheless. Read full review
75
The PlaylistBrian FarvourJun 6, 2025
Let’s say Dangerous Animals gets the job done, but were it not for Jai Courtney, this would fall somewhere in the realm of any film about a kidnapee. Read full review
75
The Associated PressMark KennedyJun 4, 2025
The setting of a boat in the middle of the Coral Sea unlocks a delicious new home for terror. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 2, 2025
As suspense thrillers go, “Dangerous Animals” is as uncompromising as it gets. It doesn’t aspire to much, but it’s well-acted and well-written, looks great and full of surprises. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMay 21, 2025
It’s an efficient, clever genre mash-up that works because of how well Byrne blocks its action, employs an old-fashioned score, and directs his actors to visceral performances. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJason ZinomanJun 5, 2025
This is a horror movie about horror movies made by people who seem to have spent more time observing horror movies than the real world. Making this work requires wit, the right tone and a ruthless sense of pace. Byrne manages all three with a sure hand. Read full review
70
The Irish TimesTara BradyJun 4, 2025
Sean Byrne’s third feature is neither as gripping as The Loved Ones, his prom-night horror, nor as intriguing as The Devil’s Candy, his supernatural heavy-metal thriller, but it rattles along as effective B-movie gore. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 18, 2025
The efficient and highly effective thriller scarcely allows a calm moment in which to question how deranged its premise truly is. Read full review
63
Washington PostJen YamatoJun 6, 2025
The script by Nick Lepard never quite figures out how to fill its 98-minute run time with new cat-and-mouse (or shark-and-marlin, as Tucker dubs her) twists, and “Dangerous Animals” loses steam treading familiar trope-filled waters en route to an oddly mawkish ending. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonJun 5, 2025
Though Courtney and Harrison give their all, this is a slick-looking yet routine exercise that wastes an ideal premise. Read full review
60
Screen RantBrennan KleinJun 6, 2025
As a meat-and-potatoes thriller, Dangerous Animals does get the job done, but if it didn't center Jai Courtney's great serial killer performance, it would have absolutely nothing to recommend it to those who aren't already wholly devoted to watching every single thriller that comes to theaters. Read full review
60
ColliderNate RichardJun 4, 2025
It might not be a future genre classic, but thanks to Courtney's utmost commitment to his villainous role, you'll be glad you dipped your toes in the water by the time the credits roll. Read full review
60
TheWrapChase HutchinsonMay 21, 2025
That there is a genuinely clever current running through it about the cinematic history of sharks and the fear they hold in our imagination is just a little added bonus that offers a bit more to chew on. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 18, 2025
Director Sean Byrne doesn’t lean hard enough into the trashy pleasures for maximum fun, unlike some of the more preposterous recent shark movies. (Give me The Shallows, Under Paris, The Meg.) But he dishes up plenty of lurid chum and puts a kickass heroine in peril. Read full review
50
IndieWireEsther ZuckermanMay 18, 2025
Just like there’s something cruel about the way Dangerous Animals treats women, there’s also something thoughtless about the way it deploys its undersea threats. Sure, they’re not ultimately the bad guys, but haven’t they suffered enough bad press over the years? Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesTim GriersonJun 6, 2025
Despite that juicy setup, Dangerous Animals is a disappointingly straightforward and ultimately underwhelming horror movie, offering little of the grim poetry of Byrne’s previous work and far too much of the narrative predictability that in the past he astutely sidestepped. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 3, 2025
This film has an audience, certainly, but it feels very derivative. Read full review
40
Screen DailyNikki BaughanMay 18, 2025
Sean Byrne’s third feature is a messy mash-up of creature feature and serial killer movie whose psychological posturing and gory effects can’t hide the fact that it’s propped up by tired horror tropes. Read full review
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