Hungry is a movie that knows exactly what it is. While that might sound like a backhanded endorsement, indicative of a movie that never aspires to be more than it should be, I mean it in the most complimentary terms. James Nunn works wonders within an established wheelhouse, setting a killer hippo loose among some bayou buckos, eschewing the faux sincerity too many contemporary monster movies dabble in. Hungry is about a giant, monstrous hippopotamus, and it more than delivers on that front.
The set-up is simple, especially for anyone who’s seen river-cruise-gone-wrong fare like Hatchet, Rogue, Anaconda, I could keep going. Staying on the beaten path is key, but when Sistine (Madison Davenport) and Hannah (Olivia Bernstone) book tickets for a Louisiana boat tour, they’re blithely unaware of how their guide/driver, Rodrigo (Michel Curiel), has accepted an under-the-table commission to take the group off-course to witness an unusually large alligator.
Characterization is slim beyond the archetypes. Sistine is obviously the protagonist, fired over a denied vacation request in the opening minutes, grappling with amorphous grief (though never distractingly so). Hannah is the best friend. Dionne (Tracey Bonner) delights as an agent of chaos running down the clock. They’re largely here to be hippo fodder, and on that front, Hungry is happy to feast.
Their boat is capsized, and they’re stranded in the remote bayou, fearful of everything but a killer hippo, because why would there reasonably be one there? Well, there is, and Nunn (who also wrote the script) plays to the subgenre’s greatest hits. Close calls in the water, fake-out scares, and lots of people screaming, “Swim” at one another. There’s nothing revolutionary, beyond the hippo itself, but Nunn treats it with the utmost respect, cashing in on tropes guaranteed to heighten pulses even when the outcome is all but inevitable.
And the beast itself is treated with exactly the kind of reverence it deserves, mythologized in its killer capacity and thirst for blood. It’s not true, exactly (elephants kill roughly the same number of people every year), but it works for giving this killer the kind of bloodlust she needs to terrify. And you’ll be rooting for her throughout. Sistine is the obvious protagonist, but Nunn clearly wants the hippo to succeed, even pivoting to lil’ guy horror at one point, a trend I’ve noticed all over the genre this year.
So, while Hungry doesn’t necessarily do anything wrong, it does tread the waters of familiarity. There’s little here to distinguish it from any other number of killer animal horror movies, and however slight, it’s a shame there’s nothing distinct about the hippo other than being, well, a hippo. Had Hungry swapped out the hippo for a killer croc, for instance, you’d be watching Rogue, and you probably couldn’t tell the difference.
At least the practical effects are stellar. In motion, the VFX are less convincing, but there’s a tangibility to the hippo, and it’s undoubtedly one of the best-rendered killer aquatic beasts of the year (especially after the year we’ve had). She’s very beautiful to me, is what I’m saying, even though she’s regularly ripping off arms and swallowing poor saps whole.
Hungry doesn’t do anything to reinvent the subgenre, but like Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows or Alexandre Aja’s Crawl, sheer craftsmanship and an innate understanding of the premise and its potential elevate Hungry. It’s a full meal, the McDonald’s of killer animals. No, it’s not gourmet, but nobody wants that when it’s 3 a.m., and they’ve had a bit to drink, anyway. They want Hungry, and Hungry is happy to deliver. So, go ahead – chow down.
Signature Entertainment will release Hungry in theaters on June 3 and on VOD on June 23.
Summary
James Nunn’s ferocious, wildly crowd-pleasing Hungry treats its killer hippo with the reverence (and brutality) she deserves.
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