Hunger Review – Of Greasy Joints, Elite Kitchens & Tyrant Chefs
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
After streaming ten minutes of the 2023 Thai movie “Hunger”, I had to pause it and grab myself a bowl of noodles, because that’s just the kind of food film it is. Good call, because throughout the runtime, there are plenty of scenes that might make you hungry for your own plate.
Directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri, “Hunger” begins with a team of chefs working meticulously in a kitchen before their strict boss Chef Paul (Nopachai Chaiyanam) arrives to inspect their work. Next, we witness an exaggerated display of culinary skills by the famous chef at a lavish private party, where gigantic lobsters are served with a suspicious-looking sauce. However, it’s the humble Pad See Ew being cooked by the sweaty Aoy (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) in a greasy little Thai restaurant that makes the audience crave for food. The plot revolves around Aoy, who works tirelessly at her father’s street-side joint, before joining Chef Paul’s team to cook for Thailand’s elite. However, she soon becomes disillusioned by his tyrannical ways.
While watching “Hunger”, it’s hard not to think of the critically successful Hollywood film “The Menu”. However, comparisons between the two wouldn’t make much sense, as both plots have different intentions, even though both productions take digs at elite “foodies”. In fact, it’s difficult to ascertain the intentions of the makers of “Hunger” until the very end. Despite great ingredients, they try to stuff in too many themes into the story. The film explores the “rich vs poor” divide when it comes to how people perceive and consume food, delves into the hard work, passion, and sacrifice it takes to rise from the gutters to greatness, and takes a dive into the toxic work culture of kitchens. It seems like you have to be a despicable despot to run a successful team.
Nopachai Chaiyanam is almost pitch-perfect in his role as the megalomaniac Chef Paul, making it easy to dislike both his character and the way he functions. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying as Aoy is engaging as a young woman burdened with her family’s finances. However, her character lacks layers, and it feels like she shuffles between a limited range of emotions. She is mostly angry or in despair. There’s a brief romantic sub-plot involving Aoy and sous chef Tone (Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya), and the chemistry between the two actors is searing. The cinematography and background score do a fantastic job of heightening the drama in the tale. There’s one scene towards the climax where Chef Paul cooks up a grand “feast” at a costume party, and that sequence is brilliantly done. Despite the exaggerations, the cooking plays out like an exciting choreographed music video.
While “Hunger” looks like a well-edited indie art-house film for the most part, the storytelling flounders occasionally. The climax is completely at odds with the rest of the story and is disappointingly cliched and domestic in nature. With a runtime of 2 hours and 24 minutes, many scenes are overstretched. The makers could have made “Hunger” much crisper and gone for a bolder ending.
It’s a 6 on 10 from me. Stream the film on Netflix.
