Hunger encourages you to be basic

Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Nopachai Jayanama, Gunn Svasti, Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, and Varit Leesavan are part of the cast of Hunger.

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Hunger is a 2023 Netflix movie focused on a girl who accepts the prestigious offer for a position on a renowned cooking team called, Hunger. We follow Aoy's journey before, during and after Hunger. The movie focuses on the craving for food and purpose in life so much so that the desire intoxicates you.

It provokes you to question your contentment as she was questioned her's. She became successful and felt the impact of it. She could have had her success and a balanced life if her hunger had not intoxicated her. The movie starts off very strong and continues in some parts but I felt the strength should have been present in the end. It is a good watch with appealing cinematography and topics to consider in terms of purpose, classism, and cooking.

Brief and not-so-brief opinions.

*This was originally planned to be in my "Brief and not-so-brief opinions" lineup. These are my descriptions and opinions while (and after) watching the movie.

• Great sequence.
• There's something brutal yet calming, tense but satisfying about the cooking and atmosphere.
• Nice set-up.
• 'Winners are the ones who hunger the most'…hm.  
• He made the guy use his hands to eat the lobster and sauce. It's not odd to use your hands (at least to many people who have dishes that require that)but it seemed like a power move to reduce him in the midst of his family and friends. 
• Hmmm…he became increasingly hungrier while staring at the chef. Uncontrollable hunger? The chef smirks as if confirming this humbling experience in the midst of others to seeing him eat with his hand and so desperately(one woman looked so concerned haha).
• The head Chef (Paul) had a quote on his website saying, 'The more you eat, the hungrier you get'. That's probably what's happening or worse, happens every time but the man realized this too late.
• This man, Wittaya (Tone) took one bite of her food and decided to recruit her, ha! Hey, when you know, you know.
• The card itself should tell you this might be a whole different scene.
• We see more about her and her friends as they discuss nepotism, after-graduation expectations, purpose, passion, and wanting to do their own thing.
• Aoy didn't want to take over the family business but she did it as a duty. Her brother (Au) compliments her cooking saying it's better than their dad's anyway. He wants to become a successful influencer and he has the opportunity to do so.
• Her sacrifice to help the family business aligns with what Jang said during their discussion. "Normal people like us, we've no right to be happy".
• Chef Paul is called "the high priest of fine dining".
• There is more conversation about classism. Elite treatment vs. regular working class folk (Nepo babies getting promoted but no job for others & the parking and no parking area).
• Chef Paul is not smiling in any of his pictures when she checks the website. Miserable? Indifferent?
• He sells an experience of being different, of being special. In his video, he says, "Hunger is cuisine designed for hungry people. Because hunger will awaken your primal instincts. Hunger is what makes you special. Are you satisfied with being an ordinary person, or do you want to be someone special?" He sells exclusivity which excited the elite as they posted about it with one guy saying he had to wait for a year.
• The poster photo of this movie caught my attention. I perceived it as consisting of revenge, murder, fine dining and shock.
• Her curiosity and exhaustion led her to follow Tone who was watching her.
• She didn't know she was there to audition for it with another chef called Patt.
• Chef Paul is stern, emotionless, and business-forward.
• Oh, it's over for Patt. He questions the chef's choice of making them cook Fried rice for the audition. Easily, we know that Patt will not be chosen. He came in with too much confidence and no respect as he spoke up prematurely. He also belittles Aoy's choice to use a wok.
• They cook in different ways due to their different backgrounds. One with experience of fine dining and the other without. Patt uses fresh rice for his meal while Aoy uses leftovers which seems to garner attention from the chef. Their difference is evident even with their presentation.
• I knew it! Ha, he didn't even try Patt's own after he tried her's. He told Patt to go home which prompted his outburst. He's an experienced sous chef and should know the culture but sis had more respect for the man she just learnt about. It's also a thing of manners though. Patt was entitled. He thought he deserved to work there especially since he told his mother he would. He walked in thinking he already had it before been trying before being humbled.
• She did well. Chef Paul said culinary school graduates have no imagination and can't work the fire but she knew it was better to use leftover rice.
• She tells him she wants to work at Hunger to be special. It's giving cult haha…he grinned at her after she said that though. 
• She looked so happy after she washed up and changed her clothes.
• They have to cater a private birthday party hosted by General Premsak utilizing the theme, "flesh and blood".
• Nahhh, Tone who brought her in did not warn her enough about the culture here. She was thrown into this. Even though she accepted, it didn't seem like he was going to leave her alone as he kept watching her. I know it's a nobody-cares type of atmosphere but still.
• I like the cleanliness of the kitchen. It looks spotless and like it smells good. The shots are clean too.
• This man said she should go home if she's afraid of fire. wow.
• He's kind of proud of her. I see this interest and approval from her resilience. He can see the hunger in her eyes. (she's hungry enough for this position). 
• She tried though. She made several attempts to cook the A5 grade wagyu perfectly and slept there overnight. She also had burns on her arm from the trials.
• Ahhh, she did it! So much pressure. She did the perfect cook. Despite no praise, she knew she conquered this challenge and she was happy.
• Lmao, what are her family members thinking right now? She just joined Hunger, practiced for most of the day, slept overnight, and had to go to the birthday party to cook again. 
• Not Tone spilling tea about the attendees haha. He's nice to her though.
• Tone lets her know that Mr. Tos is a prominent restauranteur who wanted to be their sponsor but the chef declined.
• You have to be kidding me. She's cooking in front of all these people?! All these prominent people?! Wow, talk about being thrown into the pit of fire because let her dare mess up…it's over. I'm anxious for her but she did it.
• This is a strikingly pleasing movie to watch.  
• Hm…. Chef Paul didn't like that she stood there smiling after she did it and Mr. Tos noticed it. Doesn't want to share the attention?
• Ugh… they proceed to eat the "flesh and blood" themed food. The scene is rather grotesque. They enjoy their food eating rather sloppily as Chef Paul watches them seemingly full of disgust. (To think of things deeper- this scene could represent the cannibalistic nature of a classist society.)
• What exactly does Chef Paul stand for? He is…hm.
• Mr. Tos wants to poach Aoy. He gives her his card and says that if she needs anything she should call.
• She returns home. She looks down on her family's business and Au's food before reminiscing on her experience with Hunger. Her brother insinuates and tells her that she's changing as she calls his food unattractive as a result of her recent exposure. He tells her that this those the trick for them(cheap tasty food fills them up), and attractive food is for the rich. He said that she cooked for magnates once and now she's different lol.
• Au missed her. He looked sad as she swiftly answered a call from Tone and left with no apology or anything. 
• Why aren't they showing her dad who would be saddened that she took the job?
• Uhn uhn, why is he looking at her? Love story? They go ingredient hunting and he tells her the freshness and overall quality of the items they use give it's unique taste before he's questioned if she's his girlfriend.
• Tone tells her that Chef Paul had the habit of eating with the providers of his fresh items as long as they promise to give him their freshest items and he will pay them well. However, Chef trusts Tone enough to go there on his own. Hearing this, Aoy believes the Chef is not so bad. This method of his allows the poor to benefit from feeding the rich (this way they are prouder of their produce as they provide him with the best).
• Chef Paul seemingly has nothing else for Aoy to do. Lol, he's like calm down before the fame gets to your head. She really questions him this time showing her boost of audacity and confidence like Patt had. She says she's the junior sous chef and she did all the frying last time. He said that was last time and that she could help clean before he questioned her persistence by asking what made her think she was so important.
• She cuts her finger during a cutting test from Chef to ground her. He says there's nothing else she can do but fry, "so what makes you think you deserve the privilege?". Yikes, he really said take it down a couple of notches. 
• She overhears the guys(Keng and Tone) talking about wanting to be rich like the younger people they're serving and be famous like Chef Paul who gets all the praise. Dang says their names will never be known. He said that they're as good as nobody's till they die unless they make a menu.
• Aoy brings a pork chop she did for her family to try. Her dad tried it and said it was good before they all ate the "crybaby noodles" he made. It's something they used to eat and showing their change back to eating it shows they are content as that are unlike her. Her father asks, "Is it expensive because it's special or is it special because it's expensive?" which makes you question several things as her sister, Joy looks at her.
• She visits Tone and he trains her. They have some moments of romance but I don't know if they would be able to work. Can they truly work in this environment?
• Woowww. The chef embarrasses Keng for smoking while cooking by pushing the soup and cigarette mixture into his mouth before he apologizes.
• Tone seemingly stole beef and foie gras from the pantry or did he? She looked at Tone who looked extremely guilty before someone else confessed. He said he cooks nice things for these people, so why can't he have it? He was fired. 
• Aoy is made the lead chef for the next thing. 
• I'm as concerned as Aoy at this point because what is happening? 
• Ohhhh their daughter has a severe allergy to shrimp and it was in the soup that she would have taken. After blaming Tone, he figures out the culprit of the made soup is Dang. He verbally berates Uncle Dang publicly. He insults him while making claims that he's jealous of Aoy and that he wants to ruin his career. 
• He lowkey admitted Aoy is a great cook though haha
• You're lyinggggg. Dang stabbed Paul. That's crazy but not far-fetched actually. I'm surprised it happened but not surprised that it could happen.
• It's just Teno and Aoy waiting back, the others left the hospital. He has no family to visit him. Aoy makes him some noodles and visits him the next day. We learn the origin of crybaby noodles as she tells him her grandma made it for her dad after he cried and it made him stop crying. It was made by mixing everything inside and made without love. The recipe was passed down.
• Chef Paul says the made-with-love thing is a great excuse when you're living in poverty. He says to become a chef you need more than love. They bond as he answers his drive to be a chef started with a jar of caviar. His mother worked as a maid to a rich family but she was made to work for months after he accidentally dropped the caviar jar. He had tasted it and felt it was horrible. He could not understand the appreciation for such or the punishment his mother was given. 
• He said what you eat satisfies your social status. The poor eat to simply satisfy their hunger, "but when you have more than enough to eat, your hunger doesn't end. Your hunger for approval, for something special, for exclusive experiences."
• He said, "That shitty caviar made me realize that I wanted to be a chef." He wanted the rich to bow down to him and be hungry for him to cook their food. He's not cooking out of passion but as revenge for what the rich and food did to him.
• Aoy's father collapsed. He's at the hospital but she had to argue and beg for a room. This contrasts with the reality of chef Paul who had a massive room to himself when he needed it for surgery and recovery. Au wonders if they could get a better room. Despite the claimed unavailability, I was surprised she didn't pay for one not as crowded at least. 
• Good God that was graphic. The father murdered them and killed himself(she saw the family they recently cooked for on the news).
• Tone questions the importance of the food the Chef makes after discussing making that family their last meal.
• On the hunt for game with some clients, they kill a Tucan bird and take a picture with it. This visibly affects Tone so much that he leaves. She sees them draining the blood as Chai slits the throat. She asks Chai if this is illegal and he states they're just cooking it. 
• Uhm…is this a protected area?
• Paul tells her to get off her high horse, food is food and asks her what makes a bird's life more precious than a chicken. He believes only using pork and chicken limits your tastes and flavours. After she talks about the law, he says that if she can't handle it, she can't be a chef. (Reminds me of the Devil Wears Prada quote, "Don't be ridiculous Andrea. Everybody wants this." )
• She quit and returned home. Can't believe this is what did it. Not the assault on Keng or Dang or his power trip admittance or almost anything else but I guess it's her breaking point. 
• Stranded, she calls Mr. Tos for help. The ominous music when he said, "the reward for your efforts will be well worth it" is scary.
• He promises to make her the most known chef in the world especially since she's young, beautiful and handled the wok excellently when he saw her.
• Tone seems like the type of person to not like something but is too afraid to leave unlike her who left as she could not stay with Chef Paul again. Good for her.
• Her dad's medical bills are handed to her. Her sister offers to take a part-time job to help out but Aoy said she will handle it. She visits Teno who actually left Hunger! (shocking. good for him!)He seems to be working at a local restaurant and he rejects joining her as head chef. He said it wouldn't feel right working under her and "in the kitchen, there is no room for democracy. It's a dictatorship" after saying he appreciates being thought of. (Wait, why would it be weird to work under her? sexist?)
• Huh, what happened to their relationship? Or a fling?
• Aoy's restaurant, Flame grows. She has a crew and we see more changes. She became stronger and sterner (shouty-er, throwing plates and condescending criticism).
• The food visuals are great, enticing, and wonderful. She gets signed and photographed (official press). Her siblings show their recovering dad her photo-op and the comments praising her. Her dad said, 'Oh, well, she finally made it.'. They look sadly optimistic and cautious. 
• She visits Tone at his restaurant. He expresses his restaurant (apparently) is not doing well and that following his dream is harder than he thought before criticizing her for having a sponsor because she was blaming his location for his restaurant's failure. He said that's the location he could afford. She tells him that it's not just her sponsor that made her successful but she has a lot of burns because she works hard. He mocks her asking that if he had those burns would he be successful. His true feelings show when she asks if he doesn't believe she deserves the success from her hard work. He admits he is jealous of her talent but she says the reason why he's not successful is because he's not hungry enough and despite saying it hurt and she sounded like Chef Paul, he agreed.
• She talks to Mr. Tos to help out Tone and reluctantly he agrees after saying he has no selling point or character to differentiate him from others.
• She will be hosting a birthday party for Madam Milky (the socialite) which would be a full-circle moment to the beginning. She apparently said she only wanted Aoy because she's a sensation right now.
• Omg, she hasn't been home since. Crazyyyyy.
• She told Au to come with her old friends to eat at her restaurant (her treat) but he said they were busy. He seems to have been thrown out or something on the other side of the call as he talks to her telling her to come back home as their dad would be discharged soon. He said, "You've already made it, haven't you? What more do you have to prove?"
• She tearfully said, "I've only just started. Take care of Dad for me, won't you?" which is insaneeeeeee, she could go to them and come back the next morning or something right? The hunger is eating her up now. Cooking is not about love or revenge now but about power. Au is the sweetest. After he says he misses her, he addresses her change by saying the neighbours said she's changed but he believes she's still the same old Aoy which she doesn't respond to as she's interrupted by Chef Paul's visit. This is the second time she cut him off (for Hunger)but he cared about her. In the beginning, when she was cooking, he gave her food to eat because she was too busy to eat.
• She prepares and serves Chef Paul with two dishes. She asks for his opinions but he refuses to give her saying the opinions that matter now are the customers and rich clients Tos will take her to. He says to her(in sort of a cruel lesson), "So…you're special now. How is it? Is it fun? It's scary, isn't it? From now on, all you will ever think about is, 'When will I fall off the edge?', 'Am I still relevant?', 'Is this really for me?'. You'll cling to your success at all cost without realizing what you've lost. Like Tone. You've lost him, haven't you? But don't panic yet. This is just the start. There is so much more for you to lose. That…is the price of being special." He said that before saying it was a shame he couldn't teach her all he wanted to. This is crazy. Tbh, it's not bad that she had aspirations but everyone's making her feel bad for wanting more. What he said is true but she could balance things out by being around her loved ones who might not understand or like things but support her still. 
• He's aware she'll be at Madame Milky's birthday as he said she's not the only one who was hired (making her feel regular). We see all the chefs are miserable(Tone and Paul).
• Milky doesn't even know Aoy's name and asks for Chef Paul's booth. Tos lied and actually brought Aoy up to her to be considered. She goes to take a picture with Chef Paul. 
• Surprisingly, Tone is there to support her. Tos brought him for her, to cheer her up as he said she wouldn't lose to him and she should ignore Paul.
• They have a food war.
• Everyone is watching and paying attention to her process. It's a battle between her and Paul as she calls her food the "triumph of the new wave" while looking at him directly. Everyone is buzzing about her food but it is cut short by the presentation from Chef Paul. 
• Oh wow. He sold an experience alright. Even Tone and Tos are silent. His is called "a sacrificial feast" and people go feral for the meat on the table. They stare at each other through the sea of eaters.
• The light changed again. She got the attention again as she made food with love. She made the "crybaby noodles" and smiled while doing it. She tried sentimentality and he tried to utilize the emotion of human connections saying in the end they're "ordinary people". 
• The back and forth shows how fickle people are as Chef Paul knew. 
• Wow, they have a good amount of space in their stomachs hahaha.
• When they eat his food, they look feral like they are starved. This shocks me each time. It's as if he added a potion or something to it to warrant this reaction.
• The battle ends cause he wins. He makes his way to her to give her a final lesson. He says no matter how good or creative her food is, "prejudice is something you can never overcome". He says the people already crowned him the winner because they are hungry for him. This is before the police come in to arrest him for serving hornbill to chief of staff Tui in the National park. 
• Videos of the hunt and cooking spread and like that he was cancelled. Oh wow, Tos and Tone spread the video to help her out. Chef Paul smiles for the first time throughout the movie saying he will get away with it and even more rich people will hire him to take him out hunting, 'because people like me, we are totally above the law'. There's so much pain and hate in his eyes, it's crazy. He keeps telling her 'well done' and 'congratulations' as he's taken away. Aoy looks at Tone since she's lost about what happened and is seemingly disappointed despite Madame Milky coming to congratulate her for winning by default. She also made it a point to mention that she thought Paul was pretentious which is pretentious as well.
• The audio is muffled to show her muffled hearing and understanding as the people once affected by the news of Paul are now dancing. 
• Tos talks about how hard it was to get her there and says that she could not lose to Chef Paul, so Tone's clip saved her which was the only thing he had to offer for Tos' help she had asked for. She realizes this is insane and wants to leave but Tone stops her saying she told him he wasn't hungry enough. He asks her, "Isn't this what you were hungry for?' which makes her take a long look at her surroundings before it cuts to her walking. As she walks all the way home with her wok in hand and she sees regular people on the streets, eating what they have. 
• She sees her dad and they hug as he says it's alright, she's home. Joy joins the hugs. Au appears and asks her what took her so long. They decided to build the family restaurant. They would need Au's help with his online content creation and she will set up her menu there. This will be her restaurant.
• I feel like the ending was prolonged therefore making it seem ineffective. I was also a bit confused about who to root for at the end. Everything seemed like a lot. 
• They wrapped up the restaurant section quickly, despite Tos being the type of person who would never allow her to walk away freely (or without an ironclad contract).
• Paul was not wrong. He would be out soon and still sought after as sad as it seems which is why he was so unfazed.
• No charges to the Dang who stabbed him? So…water under the bridge I guess. Come to think of it, he didn't seem as affected by it almost as if he's not surprised it happened either.
• So was Teno not really moved by the Tucan capture? Or he was moved but still recorded it in case?
• Chef Paul had absolutely no redeeming quality lol. I thought he would have a soft spot and smile or something but no, he was cold till the end which in my opinion was a good twist. A true villain if you ask me. I kept waiting for it or to at least see a moment of sheer happiness from his past, but no we got a bit of his backstory to understand why he's like this and that's all haha.

A girl, her wok and her dreams.

It's just a girl, her wok and her dreams navigating different social circles. She's been a rich chef and a poor chef but unlike Jordan from 2013's Wolf of Wall Street, she chose poor.

I mean technically she didn't, she was sort of forced to after they cornered and had Chef Paul arrested. She saw more of how superficial yet cut-throat the industry is. She realized she could grow to blur the lines or become shoved aside when her time came. So really, she didn't need to be special.

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