The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Lionsgate | Release Date: November 17, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 53 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
19
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
PolygonPetrana RadulovicNov 17, 2023
It’s a sharp, exciting movie — one that finally gives YA dystopias the ending that the genre trend deserves. Read full review
90
Screen RantRachel LaBonteNov 9, 2023
With top-notch performances and production design, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a worthy addition to the Hunger Games franchise. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichNov 9, 2023
Significantly more intimate and grounded than the previous “Hunger Games” movies (despite being longer than any of them and responsible for seeding all of their lore), “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” is the rare prequel that manages to stand on its own two feet and still feel taller than the other stories it’s ultimately meant to support. Read full review
80
Film ThreatBenjamin FranzNov 21, 2023
Seek out The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s deeply mesmerizing and engrossing. You will not be disappointed in this trip to the Districts. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredRob SperdutoNov 20, 2023
Despite uneven pacing and inconsistent acting, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is a triumphant prequel and the most impressive depiction of Panem representative of a director firing on all cylinders. Read full review
80
VoxAlex Abad-SantosNov 17, 2023
Remarkably, Songbirds & Snakes has found a way to make the Hunger Games feel new and sharp. Read full review
80
NMELou ThomasNov 17, 2023
What makes this fifth film the best of the franchise is its tense, paranoid latter half. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 9, 2023
We all know where this is headed — Snow’s destined to become Panem’s authoritarian “president” — but there’s still enormous room for surprise and debate, even among readers of Collins’ prequel. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineTara Bennett Nov 9, 2023
Even with its last act problems, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an effective return to the cautionary tale that is Panem. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 20, 2023
If someone was going to make a Hunger Games prequel, this is about the best one might hope for. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesChase HutchinsonNov 16, 2023
The pieces still come together to reveal a thorny portrait of how little a push it takes to create a villain. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireNov 16, 2023
“Snow always lands on top” is the longtime credo for Coriolanus and his family. The question of how it falls, and whether it sticks, makes “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” a surprisingly suspenseful prequel. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkNov 14, 2023
The glue holding it all together is the same that gave the earlier Hunger Games films an edge over its YA brethren: the steadfast portrayal of the cynicism and emotional neglect required to regard other human beings as numbers and meat that have to be placated to be useful. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 14, 2023
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes has an overwrought title, but it’s the best movie of the film franchise. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 9, 2023
Imagine if “The Phantom Menace” was better than every episode of George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy. Kind of bonkers to think about, right? But that’s pretty much the situation with “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, an enticing blend of dystopian action epic and musical drama that surpasses the previous films starring Jennifer Lawrence. Read full review
75
ObserverEmily ZemlerNov 9, 2023
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is long, which means that it sometimes lags, but its cast and the well-crafted visuals keep it as entertaining as possible. Read full review
75
ColliderRoss BonaimeNov 9, 2023
By focusing on the gray between the good and the bad, and with a scale and scope that the other films never quite had, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes might just be the most engrossing film in this series—and almost makes one wish there were more stories here to be told. Read full review
70
Vanity FairRichard LawsonNov 16, 2023
Songbirds is the rare intelligent, useful prequel; its origin story (or, really, stories) actually do better elucidate what we’ve already seen. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 16, 2023
Like the movie itself, the performance doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel in terms of how a good man goes evil. But both the actor and Ballad seem to respect the fans and the franchise, not just in terms of investment but in building out things sideways instead of forward. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 9, 2023
This action-romance provides the requisite thrills while offering new characters and narrative turns, creating a portrait of blossoming evil that is thoughtfully executed. Read full review
70
IGNEmma StefanskyNov 9, 2023
Actors Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler are brilliant additions to the franchise with equally magnetic takes on their very different characters, but aren’t given enough time to fully flesh them out. Read full review
65
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzNov 9, 2023
While Lawrence and his producing partners got deserved flak for breaking up Collins' third novel, Mockingjay, into two films, they've learned the wrong lessons here, compressing what should have been either two films or a miniseries into one excessive production.
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJun 25, 2024
This prequel—drawn from the novel by series creator Suzanne Collins—retains the hard edge that made most of those movies register as piercing satires of our reality-television age, rather than hypocritical exploitation flicks. Read full review
63
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 16, 2023
Despite the lacking wrap-up, “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is, like most of the “Hunger Games” films, a well-made dystopian yarn that’s better acted than it needs to be. Read full review
63
Washington PostThomas FloydNov 15, 2023
The shaggy but ultimately satisfying installment, set six decades before the four movies starring Jennifer Lawrence, carves out its own identity by leaning into its subtitle. If music is food for the soul, “Songbirds & Snakes” serves its tunes with a heaping side of venom. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleNov 9, 2023
Whether The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is enough to relight those embers remains to be seen, but it is a reminder how good a platform they offered young actors. It’s a ritual worth returning to. Read full review
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