“To be a chef, you need a drive stronger than love,” is the advice that Aoy, a young woman working at her family’s nondescript noodle shop, is given in the opening moments of the trailer forHunger, the new Thai drama due out on Netflix next month. Assured that she’s meant for greater things by a mysterious man, Aoy is plucked from her life of drudgery and thrown headfirst into the cutthroat world of haute cuisine.
Before she knows it, Aoy, played byChutimon “Aokbab” Chuengcharoensukying, is working in the kitchen of Hunger, the brainchild of Thailand’s top fine-dining chef Paul, played byNopachai “Peter” Jayanama. She knows immediately that she’s in over her head, as she’s yelled at for not slicing prime A5 Wagyu with clinical precision. But the ambitious Aoy soon learns what goes into creating exclusive meals for the one-percenters. “The poor eat to end their hunger. But when you have more than enough to eat, your hunger doesn’t end,” a man says in a voiceover, as we’re shown shots of the noodle shop where Aoy used to work, and then, of a private service where the Hunger team is providing for the wealthy elite, as a seemingly classy affair morphs into something more horrific.
This is enough to draw comparisons between this film, and the recent eat-the-rich hitThe Menu. AlthoughHungerappears to be more of a dramatic thriller than a satire, we get plenty of commentary about the class divide, in addition to luxurious shots of food, which might remind audiences of Netflix’s documentary seriesChef’s Table. One of the goals here, as withThe Menu, seems to be to dismantle the unwarranted importance that is given to fine dining and to destroy its pristine facade. We saw this last year in the thrilling one-shot filmBoiling Point, and we see it here in the moments where Paul is verbally and physically abusive with his staff, even as they push themselves to their limits to achieve the level of excellence that he demands of them. But beyond the tense tone,Hungerdoesn’t seem to have much in common with 2022’s breakout hit seriesThe Bear.
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Bangkok, of course, is one of the world’s most high-profile food destinations, where Michelin-starred street food vendors exist alongside celebrity chefs whose restaurants can have waiting periods of up to six months. But they rarely rub shoulders, and that’s part of whatHungeris trying to get at. Netflix has been ramping up its Thai content in recent months. Perhaps the streamer’s biggest local-language hit remains 2021’s supernatural thrillerThe Whole Truth, directed byWisit Sasanatieng. In 2022, Netflix also released the six-part limited seriesThai Cave Rescue, executive produced byJon M. Chu. On the docket for the streamer isShutterco-directorParkpoom Wongpoom’s thriller seriesDelete.
Directed bySitisiri Mongkolsiriand also starringGunn Svasti Na Ayudhya,Hungeris slated for release on April 8 on Netflix. You can watch the trailer here, and read the film’s official synopsis down below.
Aoy, a woman in her twenties is from a family that runs a local business of traditional soy sauce stir noodles (Rad-na) and stir-fried noodles (Pad-see-ew) hawker in the old town. One day a man in his early thirties comes to her street food restaurant and asks her to join the team ‘HUNGER’ Thailand’s number one luxury Chef’s table team.
