In this article we are going to discuss Hunger full movie review. So, stay tuned and read this article till end.
Film: Hunger
Release Date: April 8, 2023
Genre: Drama
Language: Thai
Cast: Nopachai Chaiyanam, Chutimon Cheungcharoensukying and Gunn Svasti
Director: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
Producer: Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Soros Sukhum
Writer: KongdejJaturanrasamee
Editor: Manussa Vorasingha, Abhisit Wongwaitrakarn
Production: Netflix
Hunger Full Movie Story Review
From the director of “Girl From Nowhere” a hit series,Sitisiri Mongkolsiribrings another thriller cooking movie “Hunger” on Netflix. It follows the story of Aoy (Chutimon Cheungchafoensukying) who is a culinary prodigy and in Bangkok runs her family’s local noodle restaurant that she inherited. One day, a young chef Tone (Gunn Svasti) who works under a renowned chef i.e. Chef Paul (Nopachai Chaiyanam) comes to Aoy’s restaurant and orders “the usual” after sometime calls her and tells her that “You’re too good to be working here” and gives her an invites her to try for the exclusive try-out at the kitchen.
He believes she has got what it takes to be the new recruit of the “Hunger” crew.Later, we find her sitting with her friends who also somehow gets to make a living from their jobs. Aoy passes the try-out but then the real struggle begins. We see her covered in burns, tears and sweat until she passes the test given by Chef Paul. She wants to become special and in the process of becoming special she goes through a lot, finds out the struggle and the realities of a kitchen which are very cruel in nature and losses bits and pieces of herself, understands that it will cost her a lot to be special.
Good Aspects of Hunger Movie
The cinematography of the movie is done so well. Visually it looks pleasing and so dreamy. The shots of Bangkok were taken so aesthetically that it made me want to go and live there for few days. The locations, the set designs used to showcase the difference between a local noodle restaurant and a high-class kitchen where foods are made for rich, high-class society people with lots of perfection and techniques but not love was done perfectly because it did bring out the difference perfectly. The people also helped in this portrayal of the difference quite well.
Customers who came often to the noodle restaurant or anyone who visited were simple human beings who possessed human compassion and feelings and did not cared anything about the presentation or techniques. They are poor people who come to the restaurant to eat to end their hunger whereas the rich upper-crust whom Chef Paul serves were nothing but flimsy socialites for whom hunger is not something that ends after eating food but more than that. This, the director draw the difference between the socio-economic classes, the rich and the poor exceptionally well.
The shots of the food being prepared specially the close-up shots were filmed with so much perfection and were taken in an intimate fashion. For example, if we take the shot were Chef Paul explains how to exactly slice a meat and then Aoydoes the same shows the difference between chef Paul and Aoy’s way of slicing a meat, the difference between a pro and an amateur. We can also see how brilliantly the shot is taken where with the help of a spoon red sauce is splashed on the plate which emulates blood splatter and for a second it actually looks like real blood and gives a moment of thrill among the audience.
The cinematography is done with a lot of effort, excellence and professionalism and we can say that it takes us into a seductive enticement of the culinary world. The close-up shots also create an intimacy between the audience and the characters on screen. Every shade in the actor’s performance is captured.
When we go to a 5 star restaurant or to a very expensive restaurant we get impressed to see the dishes, how its presented to us and how good it tastes and we click lots of pictures of the food but we do not see the struggle behind those dishes.
This is what the movie has shown and opens our eyes with every scene unfolding. It not only demonstrates the beautiful presentations, the aesthetics of being a chef but also the reality of a kitchen, the struggle behind preparing those dishes is very tiring and violent, it takes lots of trial-and-error which is shown by Aoy where she cannot go home until and unless she slices the meat perfectly and cooks it well and in the process gets lots of burns on her hand from the hot oil while cooking. In another scene also we can see how dangerous it is for the chef while cooking where we find a dish catching fire while being cooked and it can cause serious problems.
The witty dialogues poses some important questions like what makes a food tasty for those who are able to afford anything? Is it the spectacle? What makes something expensive? The speciality? or is it the speciality that gets determined by the expense? The dialogues that are used in the movie are so meaningful and puts the audience into some deep thoughts that they go home with certain questions on their mind like “in the end what is it that we are really ‘hunger’ for?” Two of the most memorable dialogues from the movie are “Your social status is determined by what you eat” and “The poor eat to end their hunger, but when you have more than enough to eat, your hunger does not end”. So, I suggest you to watch Hunger full movie.
Negative Aspects of Hunger Movie
The negative aspects that I found in the movie is that it is a little bit lagging in nature and even the pace is tedious. Some scenes looks repetitive which can make the audience distracted at some point. It takes its own time to unveil the story which could have been done better. The director played safe so it did kind of fall short when it has much more potential. The genre is not new since many movies on the genre with the same message has been already made which makes it not so notable. It also lacks a punch.
Hunger Movie Actor’s Performance
Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying who played the leading role Aoy brings out all the emotions so well and with so much honesty. She did justice to her character who is hard working, compassionate and disciplined. Her hardworking nature made me want to work hard more. Chutimon with her great acting takes us with her on the journey of the two spheres that she lived – one as the noodle restaurant owner and the other as the struggling recruit of “Hunger” under chef Paul. She is so relatable.
Her journey felt relatable on a personal level. In the process of rising high in our career we all put love, loneliness and loss at stake which is what Aoy went through in her journey of becoming special. Her expressions, performance, style, dialogue delivery all were perfect. It is Chutimon who carries the movie on her back and makes up for all the flaws of the movie. She was so real and raw.
Coming to Nopachai, he played the role of the ingenious and nasty Chef Paul. He also presented his character who was ruthless, strict and hypocrite very well. It looked very real though at certain point his works made no sense. But overall he did pretty good job.
Gunn Svastiwho played the role of a supportive character (Tone) did a decent acting. And their role gave us a relief sometimes from the face-off between Aoy and Chef Paul. More screen play of Gunn could have been better.
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Hunger full movie Review Conclusion
Hunger the Thai film is a pretty simple movie with a simple message. It works with the identity crisis, kitchen politics, injustice, capitalism and social differences. We can see our own people’s and even our own reflections in the characters. We can see what they want, their drives and desires.
Though it is a bit slow or we can also say that the movie is set at a simmer but the best needs time to cook and so does the movie. Keeping aside the flaws the movie is worth giving a watch. It is available on Netflix so do grab something to eat and dive in the culinary world as the movie will definitely make you hungry and your “hunger” will not stop. So, this was the Hunger full movie review.
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