The prequel to the Hunger Games series was one I was looking forward to for a while as I had loved repeatedly watching all of the other movies. However, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was by far my favorite of the whole series. The movie starts out with a heart-wrenching scene from Coriolanus Snow’s past, demonstrating how the unfortunate circumstances of rebellions resulted in the creation of the infamous Hunger Games. His life fast-fowards as the audience witnesses Snow as a young adult preparing for the reaping. At the event, him and his peers are randomly given a tribute to mentor and- to his disappointment- he is paired with Lucy Gray, the female tribute from District 12.
Although opposites, Lucy and Snow are a dynamic duo as they help each other grow throughout the process of preparing for the games and become closer than they had ever imagined. I loved watching their story unfold, as I had already watched the other Hunger Games movies and recognized so many small details from that made the overall experience so much better. Witnessing Coriolanus develop as a character was shocking as his personality and morals are entirely different at the end of the movie than at the beginning. I absolutely loved this movie and, despite it’s length, would definitely watch it again. This movie is for anyone who wants to learn more about dystopian entertainment, both novels and movies, as it perfectly builds up to an addicting series. I would recommend this movie to those who want to continue obsessing over The Hunger Games series and even to those that haven’t had the chance to experience it yet.