If you’re a horror fan, chances are you’ve never forgotten the name Sean Byrne. His first two features—The Loved Ones (2009) and The Devil’s Candy (2015)—have earned cult status, not just for their visceral scares, but for their unflinching emotional core. Byrne doesn’t just make horror films—he makes human horror films, ones that stick in your brain long after the credits roll. With his latest project, Dangerous Animals, Byrne returns to the director’s chair for the first time in nearly a decade—and if the early buzz is any indication, he hasn’t missed a beat.
As someone who loves both The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy, I’ve been waiting years to see what Byrne would do next. His style has always been bold, his characters deeply felt, and his tension-building practically operatic. Now, with Dangerous Animals, Byrne steps out to sea and into something even darker—a shark-infused survival thriller that swaps out the supernatural for raw, flesh-and-blood terror.
Written by Nick Lepard, Dangerous Animals follows Zephyr (played by Hassie Harrison), a free-spirited surfer who finds herself abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer named Tucker, played by a terrifyingly effective Jai Courtney. The film traps its characters—and the audience—aboard a drifting boat with sharks circling below and madness tightening above. It’s part creature feature, part psychological horror, and 100% a Sean Byrne special: violent, visceral, but grounded in the kind of emotional realism that elevates it beyond genre clichés.
What makes Byrne’s work stand out is his insistence that character always comes first. As he’s said of Dangerous Animals, “If you don't care, then you don't scare”—a philosophy clearly at work here. Tucker may be monstrous, but he’s not a cardboard cutout. He’s damaged, magnetic, and disturbingly likable at times, with a twisted charisma that makes you almost understand his delusions. Byrne describes Courtney’s performance as a moment akin to Kathy Bates in Misery or Christian Bale in American Psycho, and it’s not hyperbole—Courtney’s portrayal is layered, unpredictable, and completely absorbing.
Byrne’s collaboration with cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe and composer Michael Yezerski (who also scored The Devil’s Candy) brings an eerie beauty to the film. The visuals are stark, often claustrophobic, and the use of real shark footage adds an unnerving realism. The sound design, spearheaded by Mad Max: Fury Road’s David White, creates a soundscape so immersive it practically drowns you in dread.
Yet even amid the blood and saltwater, there’s a strange tenderness at the heart of Dangerous Animals. Byrne continues to explore themes of loss, connection, and trauma—not just through Zephyr’s arc of survival, but through the lens of a world that turns predators into symbols and men into monsters. In Tucker, Byrne holds up a mirror to our cultural obsession with fear and asks: what’s the real danger here?
With Dangerous Animals set for theatrical release in June 2025, Byrne’s return couldn’t feel more timely. In an era where so many horror films lean on nostalgia or formula, Byrne remains a director who takes risks—who believes that horror can be thrilling and thoughtful, entertaining and emotionally resonant.
As a longtime fan, I couldn’t be more excited to see what Sean Byrne does next. The Loved Ones was a brutal fairy tale of obsession. The Devil’s Candy was a satanic-metal symphony about love and grief. Now, Dangerous Animals brings the terror to open water—and once again, Byrne proves he’s not just playing in the genre. He’s redefining it. Whatever’s on the horizon for Byrne, count me in. Horror is better when he’s behind the wheel. Or in this case… the helm.
Jessie Hobson