The long-awaited movie adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out two weeks ago. The story takes place 64 years before the Hunger Games trilogy.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes features a unique set of characters; all of them are new except one. The story mainly follows two characters, the first being Lucy Gray Baird, a charismatic young musician from District 12. After being reaped for the games, she is introduced to the world of the capitol, home to the other main character.
Coriolanus Snow was introduced to us in the very first book, but The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes shows us another side of him. Being an ambitious person, Snow is in the running for a scholarship to the capitol’s top university. This prize is earned by being the best mentor to an assigned tribute, who happens to be Lucy Gray Baird.
I thought the plot was well developed. I enjoyed watching Baird and Snow’s relationship develop from one of business into something more. Their story was as beautiful as it was tragic. Baird wins in the games and returns to safety. The same can’t be said for Snow. His thirst for power and success in the capitol causes him to abandon his morals. He commits his first murder in the capitol by the end of the movie—one of many more to come.
Overall, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was a really well written movie and a great adaptation of the book. It allowed readers to see the world before Panem during the “dark days” and the early stages of the country. Rachel Zegler and Tom Blythe were great casting choices; both of them fully delivered. If you’ve read any of the books or seen any of the movies, go to a movie theater near you as soon as you can and see this movie before you can’t anymore.
