Hungry (2026)

While vacationing in New Orleans, Sistine—who is coping with her mother's illness and a recent job loss—and her best friend Hannah decide to take a discounted alligator-watching riverboat tour in the Louisiana swamplands. Before setting out, the tourists meet the tour guide, Rodrigo, and his boss, Walker, who briefly mentions historical attempts by international traders to introduce hippopotamuses to the region. Joining Sistine and Hannah on the tour are divorced businesswoman Dionne Edwards, nurse Sally, Sally's retired firefighter father Tim, and Sally's teenage son Mikey.

During the trip, Dionne secretly pays Rodrigo a $300 tip to take the boat several miles off the approved route to photograph a massive, famous alligator nicknamed "Big Ben." Entering a desolate section of the swamp, the group finds the area strangely devoid of wildlife before discovering Big Ben's savagely mutilated carcass. Suddenly, a massive hippopotamus attacks and overturns the riverboat. Dionne escapes by climbing a nearby tree, while the others scramble atop the capsized hull. Rodrigo is injured by the hippo's tusks. Sistine manages to recover an emergency kit from the water, and Sally treats Rodrigo's wounds, warning the group that the injury is severe and will become fatally infected without hospital care.

As night falls, the highly territorial hippo continues to stalk the stranded group. It attacks and kills Tim, followed shortly by Hannah. Meanwhile, Walker realizes Rodrigo's tour is hours late and sets out in a small motorboat to search for them. The remaining survivors devise a plan to ignite a protective ring of gasoline on the water's surface, allowing Sistine to dive under and retrieve the boat's emergency locator beacon. Rodrigo activates the beacon before passing out from his infected wounds. Walker tracks the signal and arrives, but Dionne initiates a fight with Rodrigo and accidentally pushes Mikey into the water, where he’s immediately killed by the hippo. Walker, seeing how his boat wouldn’t stand a chance against the animal, gets himself and the other passengers back into the trees. Despondent over witnessing the deaths of her father and son in quick succession, a catatonic Sally intentionally wades into the dark water and disappears into the dark swamp.

The hippo then attacks Walker's boat and bites his foot. Rodrigo, in his final moments, fires a tranquilizer dart at the beast, allowing Walker to swim to the riverbank with a severe leg wound.

Sistine convinces Dionne to cooperate, and they use tree branches to disturb the water, drawing the hippo away. Walker fends off the animal with a flare while Sistine secures his boat. Because the boat ran out of gas the moment he arrived, Walker, Sistine, and Dionne row to an abandoned alligator farm to take shelter. They discovered that hippos were farmed here during the 1910s as part of American Hippo Bill to feed the US population with Hippo meat during the meat shortage while using the Hippo to get rid of the invasive species of plant called water hyacinth and that the hippos had three generations of descendants. Outside the facility, they discover a baby hippo trapped underneath heavy metal fencing. Then immediately, an adult hippo arrives and kills Walker.

Dionne attempts to flee down a ladder but falls and breaks her leg. Sistine lights a fire to kill the adult hippo and climbs down to assist Dionne. Dionne tries to get to the boat, but the hippo returns, somehow surviving the fire, and crushes her against the metal cages, killing her. Realizing that this adult hippo is acting out of fierce protection for its offspring rather than territorial dominance, Sistine decides to remain behind to lift the fencing and free the trapped baby hippo. With its calf released, the adult hippo ceases its relentless assault, allowing Sistine to be rescued by a rescue helicopter that spotted the fire. She then sees the hippo and her offspring running around the Louisiana swamp, knowing the danger other people will face.