The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Movie, 2023, The 10th Games, Set in The 10th Hunger Games
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is #5 of 5 in release order and #1 of 5 in chronological order in the The Hunger Games.
The story
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.
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.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ending explained
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.
Where to watch The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is streaming on Hulu, YouTube TV, and Fandango at Home Free in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes 64%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, the latest.
- Chronological order: first, before The Hunger Games.
What to watch before The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
In release order, the essentials before The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) are The Hunger Games (2012), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014), and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015).
Cast
- Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow
- Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird
- Peter Dinklage as Dean Casca Highbottom
- Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman
- Hunter Schafer as Tigris
- Josh Rivera as Sejanus Plinth
- Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul
- Fionnula Flanagan as Grandma’am
- Burn Gorman as Commander Hoff
- Dexter Sol Ansell as Young Coriolanus
- Rosa Gotzler as Young Tigris
- Clemens Schick as Respectable Man
Directed by Francis Lawrence.