The Hunger

The Hunger is currently streaming in the US on Hoopla, and it rewards the patience it asks of you. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. Its 7/10 TMDB score, built from 657 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Catherine Deneuve's performance alone is worth the time investment. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Hoopla.

The Hunger arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The writing in The Hunger treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. Five-thousand-year-old vampire Miriam promises her lovers the gift of eternal life. When John, her cellist companion for centuries, discovers that he has suddenly begun growing old, he attempts to seek out the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts, a researcher on the mechanisms of aging. Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 1983. The performances in The Hunger do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in The Hunger. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Catherine Deneuve is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.