In James Nunn’s thriller Hungry, a very pissed-off hippopotamus attacks a New Orleans alligator tour boat. And because of copyright, the rest of the expected title is silent.
And while that premise sounds gloriously ridiculous (because it is), Hungry is surprisingly serious, suspenseful, well-shot, and genuinely effective. What could have easily devolved into a campy SyFy-style joke instead turns into a slick, crowd-pleasing creature feature with one very unlikely movie monster.
The setup isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel, but it works. A group of strangers boards an alligator swamp tour and quickly realizes there’s something far deadlier than gators lurking beneath the water.
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Leading the motley crew are Sistine (yes, really) and Hannah, played by Madison Davenport and Olivia Bernstone. Davenport in particular is terrific here, giving Sistine an emotional core beyond the standard “final girl” template. After being fired from her job, Sistine feels directionless, defeated, and stuck in a life she no longer recognizes. Naturally, within 92 minutes she’ll discover hidden reserves of courage because this is still a creature feature and personal growth apparently comes standard with attempted hippo murder.
Trying to cheer her up, Hannah flirts with handsome tour guide Rodrigo (Michel Curiel) and signs them up for the swamp excursion.
Also aboard: a three-generation family consisting of Grandfather Tim (Jim Meskimen), his daughter Sally (Samantha Coughlan), and her moody teenage son Mikey (River Codack), plus Dionne (Tracey Bonner), a businesswoman dressed for a corporate boardroom instead of the Louisiana swamp. Dionne demands to see the fiercest alligators possible and even pays extra for it, which, in horror movie terms, is basically signing your own waiver.
Naturally, the boat goes off course.
Naturally, something attacks.
And naturally, things go very badly.
After the vessel capsizes, Rodrigo is severely injured, and the surviving passengers scatter between trees and the overturned boat. At the same time, an enraged hippo circles the swamp waters hunting them down one by one.
For a large chunk of the movie, that’s the entire setup: people stranded in hostile swamp terrain trying to survive from morning until night while avoiding a territorial murder hippo.
Honestly? It works.
Nunn does a solid job making the audience actually care about these characters. Everyone gets enough personality and backstory that even the more irritating passengers reveal moments of vulnerability or humanity before becoming hippo chow. That emotional investment makes the attacks land harder, and several are legitimately tense. I found myself blurting “NO!” at the screen more than once.
Once the film returns to dry land, it loses a little momentum, but there are still enough thrills and close calls to keep things entertaining through the finish.
It also helps tremendously that the visual effects are shockingly good for an indie feature. The hippo has real heft and menace, especially in the water sequences where it often looks completely convincing. Only occasionally does the CGI peek through. That realism goes a long way in selling the terror because hippopotamuses are already horrifying enough in real life without cinematic embellishment.
Cinematographer Job Reineke also deserves credit for giving the swamp atmosphere and beauty without drowning everything in muddy darkness. You can actually see what’s happening, which feels increasingly rare in modern horror.
Hungry isn’t trying to redefine the creature feature. It just wants to trap a bunch of likable people in a swamp with an angry hippopotamus and let chaos unfold. Thankfully, that’s more than enough. By the end, this hungry hungry hippo earns its bite.
Hungry opens in select theaters on June 3, 2026.
