A fascinating character study of a villain made not born.

Three years before the first Hunger Games, even those living in the future capital weren’t immune to the hardships of the Dark Days, starving in the shadows of war and doing anything to stay alive. Thirteen years later, the tenth Hunger Games is a shadow of its former self, a necessary function that no one bothers to or can bear to watch as destitute children butcher themselves for public sport. A young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) attends academy at the capital, striving to achieve a monetary prize to keep his family afloat financially and put him through university. Unfortunately, Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis) tasks the academics to mentor tributes to become spectacles but not necessarily winners, dangling the once-academic prize as an incentive. While games co-founder Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) appears fine with letting the games die out, Coriolanus is saddled with a wily songstress from District 12 named Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Ziegler), who appears all-in on making a spectacle of herself. The real question is, who’s manipulating who?

The Maze Runner, Divergent, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games. For a time, there was no end to the big-budget young-adult sometimes-dystopian fantasies hitting theaters, and for the ones managing to go the distance, revisiting the same well for new ideas hasn’t always been a guarantee for success — never mind mandatorily splitting final books into two parts to churn out an extra film. In the aftermath of the faltering screenplay-only Fantastic Beasts debacle which saw Warner Bros. quietly pulling the plug on J. K. Rowling’s prequels, writer Suzanne Collins published an actual book as a prequel picked up to be a new film directed again by Francis Lawrence. Filmed in Germany for a “reconstruction-era Berlin… aesthetic and thematic inspiration,” the production expressly set out to avoid “the Katniss problem” as that character’s story was complete. Set sixty-four years before the original novel, the prequel dares to ask and explore the answer to the question: what is the purpose of The Hunger Games?

The popularity of Hunger Games media lends itself to a dark parallel with our own world, specifically a dangerous and possible autocratic future. With The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it feels like Collins has graduated to an entirely new level of storytelling in this genre: an introspection into a single character whose fate is known. Juilliard-trained actor Blyth takes viewers through three progressive acts to shape the future President Snow, including his twisted addiction to manipulation and decidedly personal code of ethics. Hints of what will play out in the original films are everywhere, from a stop at the infamous Hanging Tree to where all those genetic abominations loose in the world might have originated. There’s an inherent wickedness throughout the film and in every major character — there’s good and evil in everyone — and while it may not sit well with fans of Katniss or those hoping for more history behind the games, it’s easily the best film of the series.

There’s a lot of story to get through and little of it wasted, which is impressive for being over two and a half hours long. Ziegler’s Lucy Gray is a wildcard from the beginning, a natural singer and performer (not unlike the actress herself). Thrown into a situation stacked against her, she’s willing to do what’s necessary to stay alive any way she can; when her part in Snow’s history ends, it raises more questions than it answers, teasing that this stand-alone film could earn a sequel or two if the demand is there. It’s a shame Dinklage’s Highbottom has so little screen time — practically relegated to a guest star role — but Jason Schwartsman as Lucky Flickerman revels in his scene-stealing role as weatherman-turned-game-show-host, emulating Stanley Tucci’s Ceaser Flickerman from the original films with his own wannabe celebrity spin. It’s no secret Viola Davis has incredible range, but if there’s a reason to make another film, her Dr. Gaul makes for one of the most memorable and unapologetic villains she’s ever played.

As of this writing, there are no other books written and no other stories left to tell, so this could be it for The Hunger Games… again. With so many seeds spread throughout the story, however, it will all come down to audience engagement and their willingness to buy a ticket. If one or two more films could reach this level of quality, another visit to old Panem shouldn’t be too far off or too unwelcome.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is rated PG-13 for strong violent content, disturbing material, and getting everything you deserve.

Four skull recommendation out of four