Film Review

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) — entertainment without hope or redemption

Coriolanus Snow mentors and develops feelings for the female District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games.

Embarking on a chilling odyssey into the formative years of tyrannical President Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, based on Suzanne Collins’s novel, serves as a poignant prequel to the four-part dystopian saga (2012–15). As we delve into Snow’s enigmatic past, the film revolves around his reluctant mentorship of Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in the 10th annual Hunger Games, unveiling a heartbreaking love story against the brutal backdrop of the Capitol’s twisted spectacle.

While the film provides fleeting entertainment, showcasing the transformation of a stagnant Hunger Games into the grand spectacle it would become under Katniss Everdeen’s reign, it fails to evoke warmth, empathy, or hope in its audience, leaving us with a sense of detachment rather than excitement, introspection, or inspiration.