What to watch before The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

No. 01 · 2012 · Film · 2h 22m

The Hunger Games

In a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage for a struggle of survival and defiance.

Why it matters: Katniss volunteers for the 74th Games; the place to start.

Starring

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth

Director

Gary Ross

Box office

$694 million on a $75 million budget

Scores

IMDb 7.2 · Rotten Tomatoes 84%

No. 02 · 2013 · Film · 2h 26m

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

After surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta struggle with the consequences of their victory as unrest spreads across Panem. Forced back into the spotlight, they become symbols of hope and resistance while the Capitol prepares a new and deadly challenge that will change the future of the nation forever.

Why it matters: The Quarter Quell; often called the best of the series.

Starring

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth

Director

Francis Lawrence

Box office

$865 million on a $130 million budget

Scores

IMDb 7.5 · Rotten Tomatoes 90%

No. 03 · 2023 · Film · 2h 37m

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

64 years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.

Why it matters: A young Coriolanus Snow at the 10th Games; a prequel best watched last.

Starring

Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, and Peter Dinklage

Director

Francis Lawrence

Box office

$337 million on a $100 million budget

Scores

IMDb 6.6 · Rotten Tomatoes 64%

No. 01 · 2012 · Film

The Hunger Games recap

When her twelve-year-old sister Prim is chosen at the reaping in District 12, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place in the 74th Hunger Games. The boy chosen is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son who once gave her bread when her family was starving. In the Capitol, their drunk mentor Haymitch, their escort Effie and the stylist Cinna prepare them for the crowds, and on live television Peeta says he has loved Katniss for years. In the arena, Peeta seems to join the Careers hunting her. Katniss drops a tracker jacker nest on them and learns Peeta was protecting her. She teams up with Rue, a small girl from District 11, but Rue is speared; Katniss sings to her as she dies and covers her body in flowers, which sets off a riot in District 11. The Gamemakers then announce that two tributes from the same district can win together, and Katniss finds Peeta badly wounded and nurses him.

How The Hunger Games ends

Katniss and Peeta outlast everyone, and Katniss ends Cato's suffering with an arrow after mutant dogs maul him. The Gamemakers then cancel the two-winner rule, so Katniss and Peeta threaten to eat poison berries together, and the Games are stopped and both are named victors. Haymitch warns Katniss that the Capitol sees the stunt as defiance. President Snow has the head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, locked in a room with the same berries. Back home, Peeta learns that much of the romance was played for the cameras.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 02 · 2013 · Film

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire recap

Before the victory tour, President Snow visits Katniss and tells her to convince Panem that the berries were an act of love, not rebellion, or her family will suffer. On the tour, her speech in District 11 leads to an old man being shot for whistling Rue's signal, and the districts grow restless. Peeta proposes on live television, and new Peacekeepers crack down on District 12, whipping Gale. For the 75th Games, the Quarter Quell, Snow and the new head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee, announce that tributes will be drawn from past victors, which sends Katniss back in. Haymitch is drawn, and Peeta volunteers for him. Cinna turns Katniss's wedding dress into a mockingjay costume on stage and is beaten and dragged away. In the arena, built like a clock with a new danger every hour, Katniss allies with Finnick, Johanna, Beetee and others, and the old victor Mags dies in a poison fog.

How The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ends

Katniss fires an arrow wired to a lightning strike into the arena's force field and blows the dome apart. She wakes on a hovercraft: Plutarch, Haymitch and several tributes were part of a plan to rescue her for the rebels. Peeta and Johanna were captured by the Capitol instead. Gale tells her that District 12 has been firebombed and destroyed, and Katniss's grief turns to rage, setting up the war in Mockingjay.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 03 · 2023 · Film

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes recap

Sixty-four years before Katniss, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is a poor Capitol student who needs to win the Plinth Prize to save his family. Students are made mentors for the 10th Hunger Games, and Snow gets Lucy Gray Baird, a singer from District 12 who wins over the crowd at the reaping. Rebel bombs hit the arena before the Games, and Snow gives Lucy Gray rat poison and tells her about tunnels the blasts opened. His friend Sejanus Plinth sneaks into the arena to honour his dead tribute, and Snow kills a tribute while bringing him out. When head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul releases snakes to kill the remaining tributes, Snow slips a handkerchief with Lucy Gray's scent into their tank so they leave her alone, and she wins. Dean Highbottom finds the evidence and sends Snow to District 12 as a Peacekeeper. There, Snow records Sejanus helping rebels, shoots Mayfair Lipp in a struggle, and his report gets Sejanus hanged.

How The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ends

Snow and Lucy Gray run away into the woods, but when he finds the hidden gun that ties him to Mayfair's death, she senses what he is and disappears. A snake bites him, and he fires into the trees after her, then sinks the gun in a lake and returns. Gaul secures his pardon and a university place, and Sejanus's parents make him their heir. Highbottom says Lucy Gray's fate is unknown, and Snow poisons him, beginning his rise to power.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.