Hungry

Image credit: Wikipedia

With our weekend habits of watching dumb eco-horror movies, Partner and I are fast learning that – while the classic predatory animals tend to be favoured – people will make monster movies featuring just about any animal. Last night we discovered a film called Hungry, guess what animal it’s about… 

A group of holidaymakers set out on a guided gator sail on the Louisiana Bayou, hoping to get a glimpse of the largest recorded gator in the region. But the trip takes a sinister turn when they discover the mangled and gored remains of ‘Big Ben’. Not keen to find out what creature is responsible, they attempt to head back but their boat is rammed by something heavy and huge in the water and they end up stranded and under siege by the culprit: a giant hippo. 

 Quite often with these types of monster movies, even ones that feature predators like sharks and crocodiles, you have to take them with a grain of salt because of the creative license that the filmmakers take with explaining the monsters’ (often unnatural) behaviour. With this movie you need a whole bag. 

Hungry, so named for the popular game ball and board game to give a clue was to what the monster is, rides on the fact that hippos are notoriously aggressive when it comes to their territory and offspring. And that’s about the only thing believable about this film. The reason as to why there’s a hippo rampaging around the Louisiana Bayou is flimsy at best and unfortunately, the film struggles to paper over this crack with the besieged characters and their backstories. 

The central group is made up of a mother travelling with her dad and her teenage son, two young women trying to get away from the harsh circumstances of their home lives, and a businesswoman who is the narrative catalyst for the misfortune, although I’m still not sure why she even goes on the tour. Rather than having civility break down under the pressure of siege, like most monster movies do, the film works to inspire little pockets of hope in having the characters work together to keep each other safe and come up with solutions to their dire predicament. Of course, these hopes are mercilessly dashed when something happens that leaves one or more of them a vulnerable target, paving way for the suspense and jump scares that are all part of the horror movie experience. 

Image credit: Bloody Disgusting

The performances are all fine and there are characters that you like, don’t mind, and hate so we have to give credit where it is due in that the film does manage stir up some emotional attachment to the characters. 

But at the end of the day, Hungry is a pretty typical eco-horror that veers more towards being boring than thrilling. Indeed, the only reason we pulled it up was because of its absurdity: how do you make a horror movie about a killer hippo? 

Director: James Nunn, 2026 

Cast: Madison Davenport, Tracey Bonner, Joaquim de Almeida, Michel Curiel, Samantha Coughlan, Olivia Bernstone, Jim Meskimen, & River Codack