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Review by James Lindorf
Animal attack films have a long and beloved history, going back over 60 years to Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” and 2026 has already delivered two entries in the genre with “Primal” and “Deep Water.” The latest comes from British director James Nunn, best known for his work in the action genre, most recently with the “One Shot” series. However, after directing 2022’s “Shark Bait,” he got a taste for a new genre and decided to return to it with a script of his own design. “Hungry” arrives on streaming June 23rd through Aura Entertainment, and its tagline says everything you need to know about the movie and its sense of humor: this hippo isn’t playing games.
In 1910, a Louisiana Congressman named Robert F. Broussard introduced a bill to Congress to import hippos to the United States. That bill never passed, but that doesn’t mean some people weren’t committed to the idea. A century later, in the dense Louisiana swamplands, a group of vacationers hoping to see some big gators find themselves hunted by a highly territorial hippopotamus.
The cast is led by Madison Davenport as Sistine, who is on a much-needed girls’ trip with her best friend Hannah (Olivia Bernstone). Sistine thought the worst thing that would happen on her vacation was being fired, but when Hannah runs into tour guide Rodrigo (Michel Curiel), things are about to get much worse. Joining the tour are Sally (Samantha Coughlan), traveling with her father, Tim (Jim Meskimen), and son Mikey (River Codack), and Dionne (Tracey Bonner), a businesswoman and stepmother trying to keep her promise to get a picture of the biggest gator she can find. The cast also includes Joaquim de Almeida as Walker, the owner of the tour company and the resident hippo expert.
What elevates “Hungry” above average genre fare like “Sharknado” or the previously mentioned “Deep Water” is the strength of the characters and the cast portraying them. No one is just taking up space as meat for the grinder. They are all given something unique to do within the group. Some of that is single-note depth, but there are two more robust characters that really stand out. Sistine has the arc from a timid pushover to a brave and capable leader of the group. Davenport has three fairly distinct dynamics in the film: the first is the put-upon employee; the second is the party girl doing her best to keep up; and finally, the survivor. She brings believability to each facet of Sistine’s personality, but the first one is perhaps the least like her actual personality, making it feel a little less authentic than the others. Tim doesn’t have the arc of a lead character, but he has plenty of depth. He is a former firefighter with a tough exterior, ready to challenge Rodrigo while also being a loving father and doting grandfather. Meskimen brings a natural warmth to those contradictions, making Tim one of the more memorable supporting characters in recent genre entries. Overall, the ensemble has chemistry and works well because they are people you like to root for, or against, which is the minimum requirement for an animal attack movie to succeed.
Nunn shows genuine skill in the action sequences, working within the constraints of a limited budget in a way that should feel familiar. While not to its level, “Hungry” employs a lot of the same tactics as “Jaws,” understanding that suggestion can be more effective than poorly done spectacle, and Nunn uses that approach wisely. The CGI hippo is inconsistent, looking and moving impressively in some sequences and less convincingly in others. Still, the film never lets its budgetary limitations derail it for long. One of the film’s more playful elements is its scattering of board game easter eggs for attentive viewers, a winking nod to the famous children’s game without tipping into anything as structured as the approach “Clue” took. It adds a layer of fun for those who catch the references without distracting from those who don’t.
“Hungry” is a nice change of pace from the abundance of shark films that dominate the animal attack genre, and it is my favorite entry in the category since “Cocaine Bear,” with only “Lake Placid” coming to mind as a comparable benchmark before that. It has value as a rental, but genre fans should consider it a must-watch once it is on streaming. “Hungry” is not a perfect film, but it delivers what genre fans are looking for, earning a 3 out of 5.
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Streaming): June 23rd, 2026
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: James Nunn
Producer: Ben Jacques
Screenwriter: James Nunn
Distributor: Aura Entertainment
Production Co: Signature Entertainment
