Hungry Is Taking a Bite Out of Prime Video — And Yes, the Killer Is a Hippo

Move over sharks, bears, and alligators. There’s a new animal hunting people on streaming, and this time it’s a hippopotamus.

The 2026 survival thriller Hungry has become one of the biggest movies currently streaming on Prime Video, climbing near the top of the platform’s movie rankings after making its streaming debut.

Written and directed by James Nunn, Hungry follows a group of tourists who find themselves lost in the Louisiana bayou. Being stranded in the swamp is already bad enough, but things quickly get much worse when the group discovers that a massive and extremely aggressive hippo has decided to make them its prey.

Basically, imagine Lake Placid — but swap the crocodile for one of the most dangerous animals on the planet.

This Isn't Hungry Hungry Hippos

With a title like Hungry, it would be easy to assume the filmmakers were going for something completely over-the-top in the style of Cocaine Bear. According to director James Nunn, however, that wasn't really the goal.

While the name might make audiences think of the classic Hungry Hungry Hippos game, the movie itself plays things much more seriously.

Nunn has described the film as being closer in spirit to Lake Placid, delivering a straight survival creature feature instead of turning the whole thing into a comedy.

That could actually be part of the fun. Audiences expecting something ridiculous may instead find themselves watching a surprisingly tense monster movie.

The Hippo Is the Real Star

Of course, when you're making a killer-hippo movie, the hippo has to work.

The filmmakers used a combination of practical effects and CGI to bring the animal to life. For close-up scenes, the production reportedly built a large animatronic hippo head that required five people to operate.

Computer effects were then used when the filmmakers needed to show the entire animal moving — including those terrifying moments when the hippo starts running.

And here's your reminder that real hippos are absolutely no joke. Despite their size, they can move incredibly fast, making them a surprisingly perfect animal for a horror movie.

Who's in Hungry?

The movie stars Madison Davenport, alongside Tracey Bonner, Joaquim de Almeida, Jim Meskimen, Samantha Coughlan, Olivia Bernstone, Michel Curiel and River Codack.

Hungry originally received a limited theatrical and premium video-on-demand release earlier this year before arriving on Prime Video, where it has now found a much larger audience.

Creature features have always had a special place in horror. Sharks, snakes, spiders, bears and crocodiles have all gotten their turn.

Now apparently it's the hippo's time.

And we're completely okay with that.

Hungry is streaming now on Prime Video.

YOUR NERD SIDE: Would you watch a killer-hippo horror movie, or is this one animal you never expected to see become the next big-screen monster?