The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an emotional return to Panem

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is now out, and has been an immediate hit. Making $101 million at the box office in its opening weekend alone, the newest entry to The Hunger Games has proven itself a worthy addition to an already beloved franchise. Not only that, but it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors by making it clear that at its heart this is a story about power and the corrupting nature of seeking it.

The story takes place 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games, so timeline-wise it is a prequel. Still, I would definitely recommend watching the already existing Hunger Games films before diving into The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as the film expects you to already have an understanding of the history of this world, the uprisings, and the Hunger Games themselves.

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes we follow a young Coriolanus Snow (decades before he becomes the dictatorial President Snow we are familiar with in the original Hunger Games films). Played by Tom Blyth, Coriolanus (or ‘Coryo’ as he is referred to) is tasked with being a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a young girl from District 12 who has been reaped for the 10th Hunger Games. This is the first Hunger Games where a tribute has outside guidance from a mentor, and is also the first Hunger Games to be broadcast as a show to Capitol citizens, with the tributes becoming spectacles rather than simply surviving.

 Panem looked quite different 64 years ago…

The original four Hunger Games films introduced us to a world awash with modern technology and a Capitol brimming with money. It makes the financial situation in the Districts that much starker; the Capitol is hoarding so much while the Districts subsist on so little.

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the uprisings against the Capitol are recent memories, as are “The Dark Days”; the opening of the film features a child Coriolanus and his cousin Tigris (the teenage version of whom is played by Hunter Schafer) running the streets of the Capitol discussing how hungry they are and watching a man resort to cannibalism in order to fill his stomach. When we fast forward to the year of the tenth Hunger Games, Coriolanus and Tigris now have food, but are living in a shabby apartment and are lacking in money compared with a lot of Coriolanus’ classmates.

The living standards in the Capitol are not what they would become during the era of the 74th Hunger Games. Money is a core motivator for Coriolanus; whoever’s tribute wins the games will also win the Plinth Prize, which pays for the entirety of the winner’s studies at University. Without the Plinth Prize, Coriolanus will not be able to afford tuition.

The games themselves are also much less elaborate; the tributes are just dumped in an arena and kill each other. But for these tenth Hunger Games, Coriolanus finds himself suggesting ways how they could be improved for audiences, including marketing the tributes and the Games themselves as entertainment. This gets complex when he begins to develop an emotional connection with his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. He is trying to save her whilse also being a key part of why these games are more dangerous and more theatrical than previous Games.

The rise of a dictator

The Hunger Games series has always been driven by political ideas; they’re about oppressed peoples fighting against the brutal powers that be, about revolution.

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes we see the other end of this; it’s not about not the tearing down of a dictatorship, but the beginning of one. Panem is already quite divided and broken in this film, but it is not as tyrannical yet. We see the potential for revolution, but subtly, through moments with Lucy Gray in the arena, and a very touching scene with Reaper (Dimitri Abold), another tribute in the 10th Hunger Games.

Fundamentally, this story is about how Coriolanus Snow goes from being a talented and bright boy to the man who shapes Panem under his rule. We see how the trials he faces turn him colder, but the film is also very careful to not use these as excuses for his behavior. His love for his best friend Sejanus (Josh Andrés Rivera), his cousin Tigris, and for Lucy Gray could save him, but instead Coriolanus sees that love as a roadblock to him gaining the power and respect he feels he deserves. It is disturbing to see this character tell himself over and over that he doesn’t care about these people even though he obviously does. Love must be repressed all in the name of power.

It is an important story to tell, and in less careful hands, the movie could end up making us sympathize with Snow. But as the film continues, we sympathize more and more with Sejanus, Tigris and Lucy, and grow more and more horrified by the path Snow is on.

Verdict

One thing this film does incredibly well is make calls back (or forward, depending on how you view it) to the original Hunger Games series. You can’t help but feel nostalgia in your chest at discovering that Lucy Gray was the first singer of the “Hanging Tree” song which Katniss sings in Mockingjay Part 1. Knowing that this song was sung by the woman Snow loved (or thought he loved) makes it hit even harder when returning to the original films; it is now sung by the girl who will bring his tyranny to an end. Far from burying the memory of Lucy Gray away, Snow will forever be haunted by her.

There are also references to Katniss herself, through Lucy talking about the swamp potato which is sometimes referred to as katniss. Lucy saying that the katniss isn’t ready yet can be taken literally, but it’s also a nod to Katniss Everdeen’s time not being here yet. The film plays Katniss’ theme immediately after this is said.

This hits even harder when Lucy, towards the end of the film, says “I’m just gonna go dig up some katniss… now that the fire’s going.” Katniss fans the flames of revolution, and it is fitting that Lucy refers to the plant alongside fire. It is even more fitting that this line is said when Lucy is ultimately escaping Snow. A girl from District 12, with spirit and bravery, who survives the Hunger Games and escapes him, will haunt Snow decades later in the form of Katniss Everdeen.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes feels like a worthy addition to the world of The Hunger Games, and balances emotion with storytelling incredibly well. It is political, it is emotional, and it is well worth a watch.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is in cinemas now.

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