Cult director says his shark horror movie "takes its lead from Jaws," and brings back "classic edge-of-your-seat suspense" rather than "videogamey" underwater spectacle

Shark horror movies are ten a penny nowadays, but the director of upcoming fin-tastic slasher Dangerous Animals says that his movie stands out because its primary killer isn't actually a shark.

“It’s a shark film fused with a serial killer film – and it’s the first shark film I’ve seen where the sharks aren’t indiscriminate killers,” director Sean Byrne says in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features M3GAN 2.0 on the cover and hits newsstands on Wednesday, May 21.

"I think that’s the real point of difference," says the director as he recalls one of the taglines floating around during production, which read, 'It’s actually safer in the water.' "What excites me most is that in this story, man is the real monster."

However, great whites will still play a vital role in the film, which takes inspiration from arguably the most important shark movies to ever be released. "In a way, it’s Wolf Creek on water, but it absolutely takes its lead from Jaws in terms of suspense," says Byrne. "For me, shark fins are the definition of tension – you see them slicing the surface, never knowing when or where the attack will come."

Starring Suicide Squad’s Jai Courtney and Yellowstone’s Hassie Harrison, Dangerous Animals follows vagabond surfer Zephyr as she deserts her past to surf on Australia’s east coast. But her search for solace is soon cut short when she crosses paths with a shark-obsessed serial killer.

Luckily for horror fans, Byrne’s upcoming feature blends manipulated footage of real sharks with live action, avoiding that heavy CGI we have seen in a lot of modern shark movies. This is due to the filmmaker feeling that recent shark films have leaned too heavily into digital spectacle. "I think they’ve become a bit videogamey, with everything happening underwater," adds Byrne. "I wanted to bring back the classic edge-of-your-seat suspense."

Dangerous Animals had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2025 on May 17, making the survival horror flick the first Australian feature film to screen at the program since 2014.

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Dangerous Animals releases on June 6. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, May 21. Check out the M3GAN 2.0 cover you need to be looking out for on newsstands below...