It’s been a year – yes, a whole year – since The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hit theaters on November 17, 2023. If you’re anything like me, you were clutching a bag of popcorn and an ICEE with anticipation in a packed theater that day. A week later, you were back for a rewatch. A few months after that, when the film hit streaming services, you better bet you made your family watch it with you – complete with a full lecture on all the Hunger Games lore leading up to the moment.
Okay, maybe that was just me.
As a now-20 year old proudly carrying my “Hunger Games kid” badge of honor (you know, the type who watched the movies religiously and lived for the rebellion vibes), I have yet to grow out of my Panem obsession. Having read all the books – including The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – I was absolutely psyched for the new movie, especially since it had been nearly a decade since the last Hunger Games movie – Mockingjay Part 2 – was released. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
For starters, the cast was phenomenal. Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow was the casting of my dreams, with Rachel bringing Lucy Gray’s charm and complexity to life and Tom delivering a villain origin story with haunting precision. It’s no wonder they’ve been thriving since – Rachel is on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet, and Tom is starring in the upcoming film adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation. Also, Rachel dating co-star Josh AndrĂ©s Rivera, who played Sejanus, is just too cute not to mention!Â
The cherry on top was the addition of A-Listers Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis (one of my all-time faves), whose performances elevated the film even further. And let’s not forget Ashley Jiao, a recent UCLA alum, who absolutely nailed her role as Clemensia. The clear companionship and chemistry between the cast were palpable and a huge reason this movie hit so hard for me – and still does.
As someone who loved the book, I was also impressed with how well the movie stuck to Suzanne Collin’s orginal work while still taking some creative liberties. The emotional scenes landed perfectly, and I loved watching my roommates’ stunned faces when they found out Snow had betrayed Sejanus, or when he’s screaming after Lucy Gray as she disappears into the woods. The pacing balanced careful dystopian world-building with the action and political intrigue the original trilogy is known for.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes truly was everything I could have hoped for as a long-time fan. I could go on and on about how Olivia Rodrigo’s masterpiece of “Can’t Catch Me Now” captured the universe perfectly or how the cinematography flawlessly set the film’s tone, but I digress. Overall, it was a much-needed return to the series I love so much, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
Yet, despite the movie’s success, it felt like it was popular for only a fleeting moment. For about a month, my TikTok For You page was filled with beautifully crafted edits and glowing reviews, and then, just as quickly, everyone seemed to move on. Maybe the dystopian era of fandoms has faded, maybe prequels don’t ignite the same passion as originals, or maybe it’s just the speed at which we consume content these days. Whatever the reason, it feels like everyone but me left Panem faster than you can say, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”
Now, as I count the days until yet another addition to the Hunger Games universe – Sunrise on the Reaping, a new book from Haymitch Abernathy’s perspective – I still find myself humming Rachel Zegler’s rendition of “The Hanging Tree” (because that song lives absolutely rent-free in my head) and reliving how much The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes meant to me. It was a nostalgic and stunning return to the series I love, and I can’t wait for my next rewatch.