Beast of War (2025) delivers a tense survival thriller that merges war drama with creature horror in unexpected ways. The Australian film follows a group of young, inexperienced soldiers who survive their ship's destruction only to find themselves adrift on a raft in open ocean, facing a new enemy: a massive, relentless great white shark. What begins as a war story transforms into a primal battle for survival against nature's perfect predator.

The film's strength lies in its psychological tension, as the soldiers must overcome their training's limitations when confronted with an enemy no boot camp could prepare them for. The 87-minute runtime maintains relentless pacing, with the shark attacks serving as brutal punctuation to the growing desperation and fraying camaraderie among the survivors. While the IMDb rating of 5.4 suggests some narrative unevenness, the film effectively blends genres to create a unique viewing experience that will appeal to fans of both survival horror and war dramas.

Directorially, the ocean setting is used to claustrophobic effect despite its vastness, creating a sense of inescapable vulnerability. The performances convincingly portray young soldiers pushed beyond their limits, transitioning from military discipline to raw survival instinct. For viewers seeking an intense, creature-feature twist on the war genre, Beast of War offers compelling reasons to watch: its unique premise, sustained tension, and exploration of how different types of trauma intersect when soldiers face an inhuman enemy in an unforgiving environment.