On November 17, 2023, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” was released and was an instant hit. Within 11 days of its release, it reached the $100 million milestone at the domestic box offices. It also grossed $200 million at the global box office. “The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes” passed all expectations in the box office and continues to stay atop the ranks. It held the number one gross box office for three weekends.

This film, directed by Francis Lawrence, is a prequel to the 2012 film “The Hunger Games” and explores the origins of President Snow, the main antagonist in the original trilogy. The story is set 64 years prior to the original film. It follows the early life of Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and his experience as he guides his tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) through her journey trying to survive the tenth annual Hunger Games.

The story follows a young Coriolanus Snow as he ventures through The Capitol trying to obtain Plinth Prize, which is a prestigious award given to one student of The Capitol each year. Snow’s family has a treasured name in The Capitol as his father was a major general and was a critical part in taking down the rebellion in “the dark days.” A change is made to whoever receives the Plinth Prize for the 10^th annual Hunger Games. Each student is given one tribute that they must coach and create into a spectacle, not just a survivor. Whoever’s tribute is the most entertaining but also does well in the games will win the prize. Snow, determined to win the Plinth Prize, goes the extra mile in everything that he does and does whatever it takes to help Lucy Gray survive.

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is an 8.2 out of 10. It was a very entertaining movie, and I really enjoyed it. Rachel Zegler did an excellent job as Lucy Gray. Her singing throughout was also great. None of the songs in the movie felt out of place or awkward; they just flowed with the movie and represented things that would happen later in the Hunger Games timeline. I found it interesting that most of the songs Katniss Everdeen sings in the present Hunger Games were written by Lucy Gray and how you can see what some of the songs were written about in real life.

The character development throughout the story was also great. Snow’s character arc was my favorite out of all the characters. At first, I was skeptical going into the movie to see how they portrayed Snow and how they would write his character. I thought they would make him too nice and that it would not seem like the same person who you see in the original “Hunger Games”, but he was portrayed perfectly. He is a clever character who is very likeable in the beginning, but throughout the film you get to see where the roots of the truly evil President Snow come from.

I would highly recommend this movie to any “Hunger Games” fan whether they are a major fan or just getting into the series. This is also a great film for anyone who has not seen any of the “Hunger Games” movies, yet it is a prequel and is a great place to start the series. Overall, this was a great film and deserves all the press and attention it has been getting. I cannot wait to re-watch and discover more things that I enjoy about it.