A sixteen year old boy with an intense desire for recognition seeks out a vicious criminal to prove his boundless grit. “The Hunger,” out of Oslo, Norway, is a suburban gothic tale of teenage vanity and misguided determination. Directed by Kenneth Karlstad, the film cultivates sensory overload at every turn via pulsating EDM, expressive visuals, and visceral sound design. Jørgen is a middle class high school kid with a talent for handball, but a more resounding interest in achieving masculinity through violence and recklessness. While holding boxing matches out of his father’s garage, he’s introduced to doping, and soon he’s fixated on reaching an underworld gang that could supply him with the drugs he needs to beef up. Determined to maintain the in-the-moment perspective of a character who will do whatever it takes, the film refrains from moralizing, and in doing so, lands as a singular, uncompromising vision of darkness.

Writer and Director: Kenneth Karlstad. Starring: Henrik Dieter Stenholt. Producer: Petter Onstad Løkke. Director of Photography: Pål Ulvik Rokseth. Editor: Karsten Meinich & Kenneth Karlstad (co-editor).