Flamin’ Hot follows Richard Montañez, a janitor at Frito Lay, who brings about a revolution in the food industry as he introduces to the world Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Based on the memoir “A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive,” Flamin’ Hot is the biopic of Richard Montañez, who revolutionized the food industry with his innovative recipe for Cheetos, pushing the brand to global success. The film is the directorial debut of Eva Longoria best known for her role in Desperate Housewives.
Flamin‘ Hot Story Summary
Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), the son of a Mexican immigrant in the United States, was raised by his father to be proud of his culture and ethnicity. Richard meets Judy (Annie Gonzalez) along the way, a girl at his school, and the two become good friends after Judy stays by Richard’s side and supports him when he is bullied by other boys at school for being Mexican. In a turn of events, things change when Richard makes one of those boys taste a burrito and the boy finds it delicious.
Richard’s burritos become popular at his school and he starts selling those burritos for 25 cents at his school with the concept of supply- and- demand. He was able to earn quite some money as the popularity of the burritos kept increasing, and collected all his earnings in a jar.
Richard gets arrested by the police one day as he goes to a shop to buy chocolate for Judy. The police officer arrests him as a result of the suspicious amount of money held by Richard in his pockets. It was common for Browns to be arrested on such grounds in the United States at that time. This event leads to Richard embracing a life of crime as he says that when the world starts to treat you like a criminal, you become one.
When Richard grows up, he gets involved in robbery and drugs, along with his homies. Judy stays by his side all this while, and the two become parents to two kids. Judy tells Richard to mend his ways as the couple expects their third child. Richard is jobless, and Judy tries to earn money by selling her hand-made quesadillas. However, the family continues to have poor living conditions as they are not able to earn enough money.
Judy helps Richard create a resumé for him to help him get a job. Despite job vacancies as a helper in a lot of places, Richard does not get any job, mainly because he was brown. However, after several struggles, he ultimately lands a job at the Rancho Cucamonga plant of Frito Lay, after he requests Tony (Bobby Soto), who already works at the plant, to put in a good word for him.
Richard Finds A New Lease
Richard is introduced to his duties and tasks as a janitor, by Lonny (Matt Walsh). As Richard starts at his new job, he strikes up a conversation with Clarence(Dennis Haysbert), a machine engineer at the plant. Although Clarence tries to get Richard off his sleeves at first, the two ultimately end up being on good terms. However, Tony warns Richard about not being so comfortable around Clarence, as he works at a rank, higher than them. He explains the rank system of the employees at the plant to Richard, telling him that they are the lowest of the lows and that Richard should not try breaking this chain.
This does not stop Richard from becoming friends with Clarence. Richard tells Clarence about his interest in machines as he grew up looking at his father repairing them. Clarence starts teaching him more about machines, before and after Richard’s shifts as a janitor.
Richard Gives Birth To Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
Just when Richard starts enjoying his life and his job, the economy of the nation hits a low. This results in several factories being shut, and employees being laid off. Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub), the chairman of Pepsi Co., which owns Frito Lay, sends out a video, urging the people to think like a CEO and come up with innovative ideas to enable them to face the challenge.
Amidst all the chaos, Richard gets the idea of inducing the Mexican flavors in snacks like Cheetos and Doritos, when his son tells him that the food they were eating was spicy and hot, but in a good way. Richard, along with Judy’s help, starts working on the creation of a recipe for the same. After several failed attempts, they find success in creating what would eventually become Flamin’ Hot in the future.
While working at the plant one day, Richard manages to sneakily make a call to the President of the company, Roger Enrico, without letting any of the senior employees know. When the phone is handed over to Roger, Richard tells him about his idea. He tells Roger that his idea would open a new market for Frito Lay, with the Mexican population as the main target.
Richard requests Roger to allow him to send a few samples, to which Roger agrees. Judy and Richard prepare a parcel for Roger’s office and send it, after taking God’s name and asking for His blessings.
Roger receives the parcel and is blown by the product. He calls the plant and tells Richard that he would be coming to the plant in two weeks. Roger says that he wishes to learn more about his idea, to which Richard agrees, and expresses his gratitude. Havoc is created in the company when everyone learns about a janitor directly reaching out to the President. Eventually, Richard is given a scolding by Lonny.
Flamin’ Hot Ending Explained
When the day finally arrives, Richard makes his presentation to Roger and the board of directors. Although the other executives try to drag Richard down, Roger gets greatly impressed by his idea and decides to put it into action.
The manufacturing for Flamin’ Hot begins. However, it seems to turn into a flop as the product does not sell well initially. However, Richard ultimately realizes that the product was not disliked by the public, but the lack of awareness about the product among the people resulted in the lack of welcome for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Richard, with the help of his homies and the workers at the plant, takes the product to the streets of the United States. They sell the product to their neighbors, friends and family, and everyone else they come across. As a result, the product becomes a hit as the sales figures of the product start booming.
Thanks to the increased demand for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Roger calls Richard and tells him that they need many more cases of the product. When Richard asks if they would need five thousand, Roger tells him that they actually need five million cases. Roger’s words leave Richard awestruck and he instantly gets to work on the humongous order for the product he created.
In the end, Clarence gets promoted and becomes the new plant manager at Bakersfield, a rival plant of the Rancho Cucamonga plant, during the economic crisis. Richard gets extremely happy at hearing the news and asks Clarence if he heard something about him. Clarence tells Richard to not lose hope as one day Richard’s luck will eventually turn.
The day finally arrives when Richard is surprised by the staff and Roger, who visits the plant and promotes Richard to the position of Director of Multicultural Marketing. Rooted in humble beginnings, Richard became an inspiring figure as he went on to serve the company for 42 years before finally retiring. He grew old with Judy by his side, as the two raised their three sons together.
Flamin’ Hot is available for streaming on Disney+.
