Warning: this article will contain spoilers.
Last week, I took a trip to the theater to see a movie that my 2016 self could’ve only dreamed of. 13-year-old Lily (with a mockingjay pin proudly attached to her shirt) would be ecstatic to learn that 20-year-old Lily got to see a Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes.
I have an incredibly short attention span and at this point, I feel like I can only ever stay engaged for 25 minute sit-com episodes. Though I was daunted by this movie’s 2 hour and 38 minute run time, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, never so much as picking up my phone to check the clock. This movie scratched an itch in my brain to say the least. It awakened the remnants of my tween self that I didn’t realize were still there.
As I’m sure you’re aware already, the movie follows the 10th annual Hunger Games, giving us a background story for Coriolanus Snow. I was excited to hear the mention of other familiar last names as well (Flickerman, Crane, Heavensbee). You’ll catch various other references to the original series, too (my head snapped up when Lucy Gray talked about picking Katniss plants).
Admittedly, I haven’t read the book yet. Although I knew going in that there was going to be a love story between Coriolanus and Lucy Gray, it turned out to be a lot more complicated and theory-provoking than I could’ve ever imagined. Throughout the movie, I found myself struggling to decipher whether they truly loved each other, or if they were using each other to get ahead. Coriolanus was clearly itching for that school prize, and Lucy Gray just wanted to survive. While their romance felt real at times, I couldn’t help but wonder when exactly it was genuine.
While I do think they loved each other eventually (post-games), they never fully trusted each other. Trust is a theme that pops up a lot in this film. Lucy Gray emphasizes how important trust is to her, and Coriolanus never fully trusted her, as we see when he chases after her at the end of the movie.
Overall, this movie has taken over both my mind and my For-You-Page. Every time I see a theory video (or a Tom Blyth edit), I simply must watch. Both this movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s have brought me closer to middle school Lily than I care to admit (a Josh Hutcherson renaissance, some may say). As a stressed, tired college student, this dose of nostalgia was much needed!