Hungry Like the Wolf: A Drama that Depicts the Anguish of Running on Empty

Written by its lead actors Alan Hall and Gabriel Thomson, and directed by Kieran Dee, Hungry Like the Wolf foregrounds the malaise and fatigue of seeking everything (with the added caveat of doing nothing for it). Protagonists Adam and Cam are musicians with high, if by now stale and stagnant, ambitions and a wide gap on their resume. One fills it with talk, the other with silence followed by bursts of resentment.

The squeaky wheel is painfully loud and charmless while Adam spirals in the background. People remain in their orbit regardless, either out of pity or for the allure of fame, however distant. There is little interaction between Adam (Thomson) and Cam (Hall) themselves to justify their partnership for the audience, and thus the trouble. They have about as much collaborative work ongoing as two bad roommates. Partying barely fills the void, shown in quick montages of energetic camerawork and, in Adam’s case, inescapable weariness. And so, despite all the encouragement of club music, mood lighting, and drugs, Adam is sinking without pause, and frankly, without intervention. When there are attempts, they are half hearted and superficial. No one is here to exercise sincerity. 

The film develops this hellish emptiness rather well. A second and third watch is difficult, because now you know what comes (and what never will). In a way, it is the trouble with Adam, too. He has come as close as he can, without being in a time loop, to living the same day over and over again until he could throw up. The despair comes out as hateful behaviour towards unsuspecting stragglers (like Gráinne Good), which effectively alienates you from everyone involved. And thus you float around untethered to any one character, merely observing them, perhaps even glad to be external to it. Hall and Thomson’s performances are key to this.   

A confrontation brings the pathetic, wretched truth to the fore and finally, Cam’s braggadocio cannot get him off the hook, though no one is keeping the score. Hungry Like the Wolf develops its titular hunger into a soured thing, existing in total contrast to technocratic fetishisation of innovation. Having starved their ability to feel anything deeply, much less create anything, there is something dreadfully inert about the two. It is almost infectious; whatever else you will remember of it, this is a feeling that the film will not let you shake off for a while to come. 

Watch Hungry Like The Wolf Short Film Trailer