The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' Review: Fallen Snow in Prekatniss Panem

By: Alayna Irby-Pi

January 26, 2024

Warning: Spoilers are ahead for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Ever since an early age I've loved The Hunger Games series whether I was reading the book or watching the movies. When sources announced that there would be a prequel to the movie series on November 17th, 2023, I was ecstatic. Many critics were skeptical of the idea that President Snow would be portrayed in his early adolescence at the ripe age of 18 in this movie prequel.  

The movie starts with Coriolanus Snow 13 years after his father has passed from the first rebellion between the Capitol and the Districts in Panem being one of the twenty-four Academy students selected to mentor a tribute in the 10th annual Hunger Games. There only seems to be one issue Snow needs the Plinth prize to go to school and without proper training, his tribute from District 12 Lucy Gray won't be able to win him the prize.  

For those who haven't seen the original movies they have a tribute both male and female from each of the districts and fight in an arena for their lives. Each tribute has a mentor to guide them along the way. Many at home may donate to their tribute of choice in hopes that the odds are forever in their favor. If you haven’t seen the original series of The Hunger Games, I would not recommend it because the storyline is very connected to the classic movies so you may struggle to connect the two back to each other.  

President Snow found himself going out of his way to make sure all the odds were in favor of Lucy Grey by tugging at heartstrings with her captivating message full of songs that caught the eyes of many. Looking alone at the title of the movie one asks, “What's the meaning of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”   

  The songbirds are used in the original movie tie back with the hatred Snow ends up having in the end for Lucy Grey which first caught my attention helping me further the connection between the two just like the white rose worn by Snow before his big day at the academy and we can see him always topped off with the same signature white rose. The snakes are used in the movie by game maker Dr. Gaul to kill off more tributes and get under Snow’s skin bringing out his antagonistic characteristics. This just leads us to the scene put on in the Hunger Games movies we all know and love and why President Snow had the emotions seen in the classic movie series.