There are quite a few killer shark movies worth watching after Dangerous Animals. The 2025 thriller, which was directed by Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones) is set in Queensland, Australia, and follows an American surfer named Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) who is kidnapped by Tucker (Suicide Squad star Jai Courtney), a serial killer who feeds his victims to sharks. The movie has a small cast, and the only other major characters are Zephyr's love interest Moses (Josh Heuston), Tucker's previous victim Heather (Ella Newton), and Tucker's dockmate Dave (Rob Carlton), all of whom come into play as Zephyr tries to escape.

While the serial killer angle adds a new wrinkle, 2025's Dangerous Animals is part of a long tradition of thriller movies about killer sharks. While the aquatic horror subgenre also includes attacks from Lovecraftian monsters (Leviathan, Underwater), whales (Orca: The Killer Whale), and other fish (the Piranha franchise), by far the most popular sea creature to populate this type of movie is the shark. This means that there is an ample supply of similar movies to watch after screening the Jai Courtney thriller, including ones that have more in common with the movie than just the species of its antagonists.

10 47 Meters Down (2017)

Directed By Johannes Roberts

47 Meters Down could form a tense double feature with Dangerous Animals because both killer shark movies feature cage diving in various forms. While the newer movie only features one intense scene in a shark cage because Tucker uses a cage-diving business as a cover for his murderous activities, the 2017 feature from Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City director Johannes Roberts takes place almost entirely in a cage, following the trials and tribulations of sisters Kate (Claire Holt) and Lisa (Mandy Moore) after they get trapped in an underwater cage with a dwindling air supply and sharks all around.

9 Shark Night (2011)

Directed By David R. Ellis

Shark Night, which is a very different aquatic movie vehicle for Aquamarine star Sara Paxton, follows a group of friends having their lakeside retreat descend into bloody chaos when they discover that the water is infested with hungry sharks. The movie features a strong narrative connection to Dangerous Animals because the sharks are the secondary antagonists. While they pose the most physical danger, the fact that they are in the lake in the first place is due to a cabal of Shark Week enthusiasts hoping to film the bloody deaths of various victims (much like Tucker in the new movie).

8 Under Paris (2024)

Directed By Xavier Gens

There are a number of brutal shark kills in Under Paris, which is a movie that adds a major wrinkle to the classic killer shark formula, much like Dangerous Animals. In this 2024 French movie, said wrinkle is the fact that sharks have invaded the Seine river amid preparations for a triathlon and may indeed be preparing to infiltrate other major waterways across the world. Another striking similarity to the 2025 movie is the fact that the female lead (in this case played by The Artist's Bérénice Bejo) must face her own traumatic past while fighting to survive the sharks.

7 Tintorera: Killer Shark (1977)

Directed By René Cardona Jr.

Just like Dangerous Animals, which features characters who hail from Australia, America, England, and Canada, Tintorera is a major international affair. While the movie, which follows a tiger shark endangering an island paradise, is set in Mexico and based on a novel by famed Mexican oceanographer Ramón Bravo, it is a Mexican-British co-production that also features British genre veterans Susan George (The House Where Evil Dwells, Straw Dogs) and Fiona Lewis (Dr. Phibes Rises Again, The Fury, Strange Behavior, 1974's Dracula) in major roles opposite Mexican actors Hugo Stiglitz (Night of a Thousand Cats) and Andrés García (The Bermuda Triangle).

6 The Reef (2010)

Directed By Andrew Traucki

Although The Reef, which follows a group of friends trying to reach land after their ship capsizes, is set in Indonesia, it is an Australian movie just like Dangerous Animals (which is a co-production between Australia and the United States). In addition to featuring Australian stars including Underbelly's Damian Walshe-Howling and Gyton Grantley, the movie features a similar sensibility to intense Australian horror movies focusing on the terrors of the natural world, including 1984's Razorback, 2007's Black Water, 2017's Boar, and Dangerous Animals itself.

5 Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Directed By Renny Harlin

The star-studded Deep Blue Sea cast, which includes Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, and Stellan Skarsgård, makes it worth watching in and of itself. However, the movie - which follows an underwater research facility being overrun by hyper-intelligent sharks - has many similarities with Dangerous Animals. This includes blending the killer shark subgenre with an entirely different genre (in this case, the action genre) and featuring a precisely curated soundtrack, which in this case includes the original LL Cool J song "Deepest Bluest" alongside tracks by artists including Smokeman​​​​​​​, Hi-C, Divine, Bass Odyssey, Simone Starks, and Amyth.

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4 Open Water (2003)

Directed By Chris Kentis

2003's Open Water is perhaps even more intense than Dangerous Animals, because it is loosely based on the true story of a married couple who were stranded on the Great Barrier Reef while on a scuba diving excursion. While their situation is very different from that of Zephyr and Moses, the fact that the major throughline of Open Water focuses on the main characters' relationship gives it a similar feel to Dangerous Animals, though the latter title feels like it contains more of a proper movie romance.

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3 The Shallows (2016)

Directed By Jaume Collet-Serra

This Blake Lively movie, which was directed by Carry-On and Orphan's Jaume Collet-Serra, blends the director's facility with action thrillers and horror movies into an inimitably tense cinematic experience. Just like Dangerous Animals, The Shallows features a limited cast and an isolated location that helps heighten the stakes considerably. In this case, the only major character is Blake Lively's surfer character Nancy Adams, who finds herself stuck on a rock just off the coast while locked in a one-on-one battle with an angry shark, with only a seagull for company.

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2 Bait (2012)

Directed By Kimble Rendall

Bait, which is also known as Bait 3D, is a movie that has many close connections with Dangerous Animals, including the fact that it is an Australian co-production (with Singapore) that centers on Australian stars including Sharni Vinson (You're Next) and Xavier Samuel (who starred in Dangerous Animals director Sean Byrne's earlier horror movie The Loved Ones). It also blends the shark movie with another robust subgenre, which is the disaster movie, as a devastating tsunami is the reason that its main characters get stuck in a flooded grocery store that also contains a great white shark.

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1 Jaws (1975)

Directed By Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark attack movie Jaws, which is based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name, is one of the most iconic films of all time. In addition to spawning a franchise that now includes four installments, it is often credited as the progenitor of the summer blockbuster. The movie, which was nominated for four Oscars and won three, was also a direct inspiration for Dangerous Animals, as revealed by director Shaun Byrne in the following exclusive quote shared with ScreenRant:

Dangerous Animals was inspired by the greatest shark film of them all. Like Jaws, it’s character-driven; shot on the ocean for a genuine sense of danger a tank can’t replicate; and - although there are several sharks in the movie - it thrives on the pure suspense of a fin circling then knifing under the water, with victim and audience alike just waiting for the moment of attack.

It is undeniable that the entire killer shark genre would not exist without the success of the Jaws movies, particularly the original installment. For that reason, it is the perfect follow-up for Dangerous Animals, as it would be for any of the killer shark movies and aquatic horror movies in general that were spawned in the wake of the combined box office of the four installments, which reached a total of roughly $800 million without adjusting for inflation.

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