This month on Nov. 17, a new film was released as part of the Hunger Games franchise. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, starring Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth, is based off of the 2020 book by Suzanne Collins.
“I was really excited about this movie,” sophomore Mallory Parent said. “I feel like the Hunger Games franchise as a whole is becoming popular again,”
The film grossed $199.4 million worldwide, according to IMDb. The film follows Coriolanus Snow’s backstory and serves as a prequel to the book trilogy and an origin story for the villain in the main books, according to sophomore Claire Li.
“I remember watching the older movies and reading the books based on the original trilogy when I was a lot younger,” Li said. “Watching the new movie definitely brings me back and I feel some nostalgia from it,”
Much of the Hunger Games popularity comes from its prominence on social media and the internet. Seeing videos of it online is entertaining and adds to the movie watching experience, according to Li.
“After watching a movie, I always look it up and see video edits and jokes about it, and it’s always so entertaining,” Li said. “I’ve also seen a lot of theories and opinions circulating, which is also super interesting,
The Hunger Games’ plot revolves around a dystopian society in which the government controls the civilians through propaganda, and the annual Hunger Games force civilians into violence and a fight to the death, ultimately as a way for the government to show its power, according to Socratic Method.
“The plot of the Hunger Games is really intricate and complex, but says a lot about power in the society we live in and how it could end up,” Parent said. “I find that it provides really good commentary on human nature and it is overall a great book and movie series to go over and dissect.”
