The Necessary Hunger follows two basketball stars - Japanese American Nancy Takahiro and African American Raina Webber - and several of their friends through their last year of high school. For some of them, their senior year will be full of glory, and the anticipation of college. For others, however, stranded in an inner-city Los Angeles neighbourhood that promises little in the way of opportunity, it will mark not only the end of their time in school but also the end of their hope. As Nancy and Raina both prepare to leave the urban neighbourhood that has nurtured them, they find themselves looking toward a future that is no longer easily defined.