The highly anticipated prequel to the original Hunger Games film series, “A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” arrived in theaters on Nov. 17.
Set in the 10th annual HungerGames, the story follows the life of a young Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth in this new film, who is Panem’s future corrupted President, as seen in the first four films where the character is portrayed in a chilling performance by Donald Sutherland.
The live-action adaptation of the book is broken into three parts: “The Mentor,” “The Prize,” and “The Peacekeeper.” The film focuses on how the events of the 10th annual Hunger Games changed young Coriolanus Snow’s life after he was assigned to mentor District 12 tribute Lucy Grey Baird, played by West Side Story star Rachel Zegler.
The story follows the romance between Snow and Lucy Grey and their journey through the gruesome Hunger Games and the aftermath. When watching their love story form, I would’ve liked it portrayed in a less rushed way with more detail and time. The transition from parts two and three was done incredibly well. Using the right costuming and lighting to go from a colorful theme to strictly grays and whites really showed his drastic change in character.
“I noticed that the movie had really good CGI. The CGI looked so real and made the scenes more intense and interesting,” said Mia Magpantay ’25.
The film presented a book-accurate Panem during this era with spot-on casting and costuming, using direct quotes from the book, and paying great attention to detail, which fans praised. This two-hour and lived 28-minute movie was most definitely worth the watch and lived up to its expectations.
