Since its release on Nov. 17, the long-awaited, harrowing, and intense movie to complete the series has left the fans satisfied; fans waited, watched, loved, and now are obsessed with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. 

   A PG-13 movie lasting two hours and 38 minutes, filled with raw acting, extraordinary scenes, and unexpected turn of events keeps you entertained the entire time, at least I was. 

   My first time watching the Hunger Games movies was in sixth grade. I quickly became obsessed with the plot and the characters that made the movie desirable. For so long I wanted Katniss to live her life and have her end game. I thought the first four Hunger Games movies were very well filmed and portrayed. I would have never thought they would decide to add to the series from the beginning which got me excited. 

   The newest thriller of a movie franchise may have left fans satisfied but I was left still expecting more. Overall I thought it followed the plot but I thought some of my questions would be more clearly answered. I personally think that the almost three-hour movie just told the story of how President Snow came to reign over Panem. Not only was it how he went from poor to powerful, but it was also how the Hunger Games developed into what we saw in the first-ever movie produced. Yes, I think that’s a vital plot that needed to be shared, it just wasn’t all that I wanted. I thought they would share who and where some of the characters from the first movie came to be, or who in fact Lucy Gray is in the later movie.

   Although I’m left questioning and wondering, Riley Kern ‘25 shared her thoughts on what she says was an amazing movie. 

   “I enjoyed every second of the movie,” Kern said. “I thought it was really put together and a good spin-off of the original movie. I would go see it again.” 

   Theaters have been packed all over the U.S. According to ScreenRant, a respected entertainment news source that has over 630 million readers in 2022, shares that the worldwide gross is $197.2 million almost at a $200 million milestone. 

  The numbers can clearly back up what Kern said. So if I were you, pick a date and go see this movie for yourself.