7 things to know before watching the Hunger Games movie Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games are back! Following the 2008 blockbuster book trilogy and 2012 blockbuster film franchise, the dystopian young adult series is back for a new decade with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesin theaters this week.

Here’s everything you can expect (or perhaps wonder) from the new Hunger Games movie.

What is The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes about?

Songbirds and snakes is a prequel centering on Coriolanus Snow, who appears in the original Hunger Games trilogy as the mysterious and terrifying President Snow, dictator of Panem and leader of the series’ antagonists. He is played by Donald Sutherland in the film versions of the first three books.

The film follows an 18-year-old Snow as he attempts to rise above his position in Capitol society by excelling in his latest school project: mentoring one of 24 children during the Hunger Games. When he’s saddled with a tribute from undernourished District 12, his chances seem slim, until his mentee, the enigmatic Lucy Gray Baird, proves to have a knack for captivating a crowd.

When does Songbirds & Snakes take place?

Songbirds and snakes takes place 64 years earlier The hunger Games, during the tenth annual Hunger Games, ten years after the Districts’ rebellion against the Capitol. So other than Snow and his cousin Tigris, don’t expect to see many characters here that you’ll recognize from the original trilogy: no Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, or Effie Trinket. Even the game’s announcer, Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman), is an older relative of the original player’s Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci).

Who’s in Songbirds & Snakes?

The film’s cast includes Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) as Coriolanus, Rachel Zegler (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story) as Lucy Gray, and Josh Andrés Rivera (also from West Side Story) as Sejanus Plinth, Coriolanus’ closest classmate. Game of ThronesPeter Dinklage plays Casca Highbottom, the university dean who created the Hunger Games.

“Blyth walks the line between sympathetic antihero and cold-hearted villain admirably,” our review said, “while Zegler plays the role of charismatic singer well. (…) The supporting cast also brings their A-game, especially Viola Davis as the cruel Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul. Davis fully supports the twisted mastermind who believes humanity is dark and depraved at its core.”

Does Songbirds & Snakes have a credit scene?

No! If you have to leave the theater before the credits roll, you won’t miss anything except the names of the people who made the movie for you.

Is Songbirds & Snakes based on a Hunger Games book?

Yes! Suzanne Collins returned to the series to pen The ballad of songbirds and snakespublished May 2020. In an interview for Scholasticshe said the book gave her the opportunity to tell the untold story of Lucy Gray.

“In the first chapter of The Hunger Games I reference a fourth winner of District 12. Katniss doesn’t seem to know anything about the person worth mentioning. Although her story is not well known, Lucy Gray lives on in an important way through her music, causing Snow’s demise in the trilogy. (…) In addition, Lucy Gray’s legacy is that she introduced entertainment to the Hunger Games.”

You can get a copy of it The ballad of songbirds and snakes below, or at the bookseller or library of your choice.

Is the movie Songbirds & Snakes faithful to the book?

It’s a pretty close adaptation in terms of the characters, dialogue, and general arc of the book, but it makes quite a difference, especially about the Tributes at the 10th Hunger Games alongside Lucy Gray, about her fellow Covey (a troupe of traveling minstrels who all have colors in their names, and have similar accents and colorful clothing), and about Coriolanus’ classmates other than Sejanus. In particular, characters such as Clemensia Dovecote (Ashley Liao) are reduced to the essence.

The Ballad of songbirds and snakes also changes several parts of the action, possibly so book readers don’t know yet everything that happens during the 10th Hunger Games while they watch. In particular, some Tributes in the arena have different fates. Some small details have also been filled in here and there, such as how exactly Coriolanus’ father died.

What song does the name Lucy Gray come from?

You may not think this is an important detail, but it’s actually quite useful to know in order to understand an important action in the third act! William Wordsworth’s 1799 poem ‘Lucy Gray’ is the source of the character’s name, and is played out a little more in the book than in the film.

In the film version, Lucy Gray sings a very short snippet of it to Coriolanus near the end of the film, but doesn’t identify it, and he asks a question about it that doesn’t make much sense unless you know the poem. It is important to know specifically that it is about a girl who disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a broken trail of footprints. Songbirds and snakes‘ story – and it’s a lot clearer in the book, so reading the poem before watching the film is certainly helpful for following the action.