The Hungry Ghosts

The directorial debut from “Sopranos” star Michael Imperioli is an intense, emotionally raw portrait of lost souls attempting to fill the spiritual voids at the center of their lives. Over the course of a kinetic thirty-six hours in New York City, a group of desperate, damaged individuals—including a late-night radio DJ on the verge of a breakdown (Steve Schirripa), his severely alienated teenage son (Emory Cohen), and a young woman (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) dealing with the aftermath of a turbulent relationship—chase meaning through drugs, sex, and moments of fleeting human connection. Capturing live-wire performances from his virtuoso ensemble cast, Imperioli gradually brings the story’s disparate strands together into a searing vision of life on the existential edge.