Hunger (2023 film)

Hunger is a 2023 Thai drama film directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri and written by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee. It stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying as Aoy, a street-food cook who is invited to join the fine-dining industry under the tutelage of the infamous Chef Paul, played by Nopachai Jayanama, with Gunn Svasti as Tone, a supportive sous chef. The film was announced by Netflix in 2022 as one of its six upcoming Thai original productions, and was released on the platform in April 2023. The film received mostly positive reviews.

Plot
Aoy works as the main cook at her family's street restaurant. She is scouted by Tone, the junior sous-chef of Hunger, a haute cuisine catering restaurant run by the celebrity Chef Paul. Dissatisfied with the direction her life took after high school, Aoy accepts the invitation and auditions alongside a culinary school graduate. Paul has the applicants cook fried rice, and hires Aoy for demonstrating more flair while cooking her dish.

In preparation for a private birthday party hosted by a retired general, Paul demands that Aoy slice and fry wagyu beef to exacting specifications. After many failed attempts, she walks out in frustration, but returns and practices frying the meat all night until Paul finally approves. At the party, Aoy successfully fries the meat in front of the guests, which include entrepreneur Tos, a business rival of Paul. As Aoy continues working with the relentless Paul, she is confronted with the limits of her existing skills and studies more cooking techniques from Tone.

Hunger's soup specialist Tue is fired for stealing ingredients, forcing sous-chef Dang to pick up the slack for Hunger's next client, a family of three. When Paul tries the soup, he tosses it out and remakes it using cheap ingredients on hand, later explaining that he tasted shrimp in the original soup even though he warned his chefs that the client's young daughter had a shellfish allergy. Paul deduces Dang sabotaged the soup due to his jealousy over Hunger's younger chefs surpassing him, and Dang stabs Paul with a knife and storms out. Aoy visits the hospitalized Paul, who opens up about the reason he became a chef. He was the son of a maid for an extravagantly rich family, and his mother was forced to make restitution when he broke a jar of caviar. The incident made Paul realize that the rich viewed food as a status symbol, and he resolved to become a chef of such renown that rich people would debase themselves to have him cook for them. Aoy is distraught by her father suffering a health crisis, as well as learning that Hunger's previous client was an indebted construction executive who killed his wife, daughter, and himself after they ate their meal.

Aoy and Tone leave Hunger after the group is hired by a government official to cook a great hornbill poached from a national park. Aoy is hired as the head chef of Tos's new restaurant, Flame, and becomes famous, while Tone's own restaurant struggles. A celebrity hires both Aoy and Paul to cook for her birthday party, which becomes an impromptu competition as the two chefs vie for the guests' adulation. In the end, Paul wins by serving bowls of hot water, and he explains to Aoy that he won not because his food was superior to hers, but because his reputation made the guests desire anything served by him more. However, a video recording of Paul cooking the hornbill is leaked by Tone, and Paul is arrested. Tos reveals that he and Tone had conspired to use the party to destroy Paul and elevate Aoy; furthermore, the celebrity client picked Paul for her party first, and only hired Aoy because of Tos's lobbying. Disillusioned, Aoy quits Flame. She is welcomed home by her family and resumes cooking at their restaurant.

Cast

 * Nopachai Chaiyanam as Chef Paul
 * Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying as Aoy
 * Alex Gravenstein as Tone (voice)
 * Chimwemwe Miller as Paul (voice)
 * Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya as Tone
 * Majid Sajadi as Food Taster
 * Bhumibhat Thavornsiri as Au
 * Kenneth Won as Party Guest
 * Varit Leesavan as Tos

Reception
The film received mostly positive reviews, with an 87 percent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The Bangkok Post reviewer Tatat Bunnag criticized the screenplay and dialogue, but concluded that "despite all the flaws, Hunger is still worth watching, especially for those who love intense drama and exotic settings."