The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

What’s it about?

Before he became the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his family’s fading lineage. To restore the Snows rightful place amongst the elite, Coriolanus is forced to become a mentor for the female tribute of District 12 during the 10th annual Hunger Games. With bleak odds, Snow has only one shot of achieving the impossible – win the Hunger Games.

The facts

• Directed by Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games Trilogy, I Am Legend)
• English language
• Runtime: 157 mins
• Based on the novel of the same name, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
• Starring Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis, Hunter Schafer and Josh Andrés Rivera.
• A spinoff of The Hunger Games series

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

Like other Hunger Games films, characters are seen using blades, guns, and objects to kill each other. In one scene, a character is stabbed through their abdomen with a trident – killing them. Their lifeless body falls from the tall pole and smacks on the ground. In another scene, a character stabs another person’s neck using a broken glass bottle.

Some characters are killed in cruel ways. We see executions such as characters being hanged. One of them are seen screaming and begging for forgiveness. In another scene, characters run away in fear as they are pursued by mutated snakes that swarm over and bite them.

Characters are often covered bloody in the aftermath of violence. The corpses of teenagers lie in a gladiatorial arena.

Cruelty

The tributes are treated inhumanly. For example, they are forced to reside in a zoo cage leading up to the games.

A character is hanged alive in the middle of the arena as punishment. They beg another tribute to end their misery.

Drug use

A character regularly uses morphine to cope.

Suicide references

A character briefly mentions they considered suicide.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• The Hunger Games guide
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire guide