Watch Hunger Point

Hunger Point is a 2003 dramatic made-for-TV movie that tells the story of a mother and two daughters and their complex relationship with food. The film stars veteran actress Barbara Hershey as Marsha Hunter, the overbearing matriarch of the family, Christina Hendricks as Frannie Hunter, the older daughter, and Susan May Pratt as Annie Hunter, the younger daughter.

The movie is directed by Joan Micklin Silver, who has previously directed acclaimed titles like Chilly Scenes of Winter and Crossing Delancey. It is based on the book of the same name by Jillian Medoff, who also wrote the screenplay alongside Susan Rice.

The film opens with a flashback to the childhood of Frannie and Annie, where we see their mother Marsha’s obsession with food and weight control. The girls’ father, played by David Starzyk, is visibly frustrated with his wife’s behavior and tries to provide some sort of normalcy to his daughters’ childhood. However, their mother’s eating disorder ends up influencing their own relationship with food, and as we see them grow up, food becomes a source of tension and control in their own lives.

Frannie is shown as the overachiever – a successful lawyer who has a seemingly perfect life with her husband and young daughter. However, as the movie progresses, we see that Frannie’s relationship with food is far from normal. She works out obsessively, binges on junk food in secret, and constantly compares herself to her sister who she perceives as being perfect.

Annie, on the other hand, presents as the underachiever – a struggling artist who lives alone in a small apartment and makes money by working at a fast-food restaurant. She is constantly belittled by her mother, who dismisses her artistic dreams and ridicules her weight. Annie herself is shown to have a compulsive relationship with food, eating until she throws up, and trying to eat healthier by drinking laxatives.

As the family is reunited for Thanksgiving, tensions between the three women begin to escalate. Marsha tries to control every aspect of the holiday, including the food that will be served, and her daughters’ behavior. Frannie is obsessively counting calories and working out, while Annie resents her mother’s criticism and tries to bring her own, healthier food to the event.

Throughout the holiday, we see glimpses of the past through flashbacks, showing how Marsha’s relationship with food and her family led to a dysfunctional dynamic that still plagues them to this day. As the three women try to navigate their own emotions and reactions, we see how their shared history affects them in different ways.

Overall, Hunger Point is a poignant portrayal of a family struggling with the issue of eating disorders, and the ways in which it can be passed down through generations. The film deals with serious issues in a sensitive and respectful manner and provides an important reminder to its audience of the dangers of unrealistic body expectations for both men and women.

Hunger Point is a 2003 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 40 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.4.