Flamin' Hot (2023) on Netflix
PG-1320231h 39mBiographyDramaHistory
Richard Montañez works as a janitor at a Frito-Lay plant. After the CEO urges workers to think like executives, he takes unflavored Cheetos home to devise a spicy version for Latino shoppers.
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- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.8/1021,874 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes69%
Trailer
Plot summary
Richard Montañez grows up in a Mexican American family in Southern California, selling burritos at school and meeting Judy, whom he marries. As young adults the couple run with a gang, hustling to get by, until Judy's pregnancy pushes them to change course. With two children and little money, Richard asks his friend Tony Romero for help and gets hired at the Frito-Lay plant, where Lonny Mason takes him on despite a padded résumé. Richard learns the machinery from Clarence C. Baker, the maintenance leader. When a downturn brings layoffs, CEO Roger Enrico records a message urging employees to think like executives. Richard takes his children for elotes, notices his son Steven's taste for spice, and sees that the company's future lies with Latino customers. He begins experimenting with flavors.
Cast
- Carlos S. Sanchezas Young Richard
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Flamin' Hot (2023)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Frito-Lay disputes the film's central claim. It told the LA Times, "We value Richard's many contributions to our company ... but we do not credit the creation of Flamin' Hot Cheetos or any Flamin' Hot products to him," and told NPR, "We do not credit the product creation to him and him alone."
- McCormick developed the Flamin' Hot seasoning and sent the first samples to Frito-Lay on December 15, 1989. Frito-Lay filed a trademark for Flamin' Hot in June 1990 and began test-marketing spicy snacks that August, while Roger Enrico only joined the company at the start of 1991.
- Montañez has said he was a janitor during the development of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and is portrayed as one in the film, but he had actually been a machinist operator at the plant since 1977.
- Clarence Baker, played by Dennis Haysbert, was based on a real co-worker Montañez had at the plant. That man died several years before production, which is why a different name was used for the character.
SPOILER
Director Eva Longoria answered criticism of the film's accuracy by saying they had always been telling Richard Montañez's truth rather than the history of the Flamin' Hot Cheeto, but she admitted the scene where his coworkers cheer his promotion is "the one thing that did not happen."- The movie was screened on the South Lawn of the White House on June 15, 2023, where President Joe Biden and director Eva Longoria spoke, promoted as the first White House screening of a movie focused on Hispanic characters.
