In the last year, it seems that there has been a revival of many aspects of 2010s pop culture from Taylor Swift rerecording her 4th studio album 1989, to the release of a new Hunger Games movie. 

The original trilogy of the Hunger Games series was adapted into movies from 2012 to 2015 starting with The Hunger Games in 2012, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013, and finally the two-part The Hunger Games: Mockingjay which was released in 2014 and 2015. After Mockingjay Part 2 it seemed that the chapter of Hunger Games prevalence in the media had come to a close. 

In 2020, Suzanne Collins released the prequel to the original trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and the discussion of a movie adaptation soon followed. 

As we both have been Hunger Games fans, having both read the books and seen the original trilogy, we knew that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was a must-watch. 

Our movie theater of choice was Phoenix Theatres at Woodland Mall, and our seats were in the back row to avoid distortion of the characters’ faces. We enjoyed Airhead Extremes, KitKats, Cherry Cokes, and Dr. Peppers.

For starters, the runtime of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is two hours and 38 minutes so the possibility for the movie to drag on and be boring was there. 

The movie premiered on November 17th, 2023. Everything from the plot to the characters to Tom Blyth in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes this movie one of the best this year. Ever since we watched The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, our minds have thought solely about the Hunger Games universe, and how we need to know more. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows the villain origin story of Coriolanus Snow (later President Snow in the Hunger Games trilogy) and his journey to power 64 years before the Hunger Games trilogy begins. The film, as well as the book, is split up into three parts of his journey: before, during, and after the 10th annual Hunger Games. The movie starts with a new challenge for some star pupils of the Capitol: being a mentor for the Hunger Games. One of these star pupils is the young and ambitious Snow himself. Snow gets paired to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute of District 12. Because of his ambitious nature, Snow does his absolute best to get Lucy Gray to win the Hunger Games.

Part of the reason this story was incredible was the relationship between Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray Baird. From the Snow character we see in the Hunger Games trilogy, it seems impossible to believe that Snow could be somewhat likable, but he’s just that at the beginning of the story. Snow acts like a gentleman to Lucy Gray, and the slight romance between the two makes the film more mesmerizing. We won’t say much more about that in hopes of not giving too much away, but watching their relationship gives the audience such mixed feelings. 

Not only is their relationship incredible, but the plot is unbelievably good. Once the action of the Hunger Games began, we were on the edge of our seats literally. Not knowing what is going to happen to Lucy Gray or any of the tributes, makes the storyline that much more engaging. 

The only downside of this movie honestly is that it’s too short. It could’ve been another hour longer and we would’ve loved it all. We would’ve loved to see more about Lucy Gray, Snow, and Tigris, or even more background into the universe itself.

If you haven’t already, you should put The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on your watchlist.