Hunger
A determined noodle-shop cook enters Bangkok's elite culinary world and discovers that prestige may demand a devastating price.
Overview
A culinary journey that tests the limits of tradition and ambition.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- intense
- confrontational
- stylized
- foodie movie night
- international cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film an intense and visually compelling culinary drama, while noting weaknesses in its screenplay and dialogue.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Aoy's movement from a family noodle shop into elite fine dining exposes the economic and cultural barriers separating ordinary food workers from wealthy patrons.
Chef Paul trains Aoy through intimidation and relentless pressure, making professional excellence inseparable from psychological control.
Precision cooking, elaborate plating, and luxury dining environments are filmed with striking visual intensity, contrasting pleasure with anxiety.
Aoy must negotiate whether success in fine dining requires adopting Chef Paul's ruthless worldview and distancing herself from her family's restaurant.
Films like Hunger, and why
The Taste of Things
intense culinary drama, obsessive mentorship, and class ambition
Burnt
high-pressure professional kitchen drama centered on ambition and artistic identity
Parasite
stylized social drama about class mobility, status, and elite spaces
The Hundred-Foot Journey
food-centered coming-of-age drama pairing intimate labor with personal aspiration
Movie Details
- Director
- Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
- Release Date
- 2023-04-04
- Runtime
- 145 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (500)
Cast
- Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying
- Nopachai Jayanama
- Gunn Svasti
- Bhumibhat Thavornsiri
- Varit Hongsananda
- Prachan Vong-uthaiphan
- Ratchawat Vichianrat
- Pattarawit Junthai
- Rangsit Budngam
- Sunya Thadathanawong
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Hunger about?
- A determined noodle-shop cook enters Bangkok's elite culinary world and discovers that prestige may demand a devastating price.
- What is Hunger like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Hunger as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Hunger violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Hunger as mild.
- What did critics think of Hunger?
- Critics broadly found the film an intense and visually compelling culinary drama, while noting weaknesses in its screenplay and dialogue.
- Which films are like Hunger?
- Films with a similar feel include The Taste of Things, Burnt, Parasite, and The Hundred-Foot Journey.
- How long is Hunger?
- Hunger runs 145 minutes.
- Where can I watch Hunger?
- In United States, Hunger streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
