On Dec. 19, Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Susanne Collins’ “A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” became available to rent or buy on select streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Vudu. After the movie’s extremely successful cinema debut, which amassed just over $300 million, fans of the critically acclaimed “Hunger Games” franchise can purchase the film and watch it from the comfort of their own homes.

   While the movie is not necessarily a continuation of the already existing Hunger Games movies, starring A-list actress Jennifer Lawrence, it is extremely relevant to the series. The movie follows future president of Panem Coriolanus Snow, played by English actor Tom Blyth, who serves as the main antagonist in Collins’ first three Hunger Games novels. In the movie, the audience learns about Snow’s rise to power, as well as the inspiration behind his eventual turn to villainy. Starring alongside Blyth is American actress and singer Rachel Zegler, who plays Snow’s love interest, Lucy Grey Baird. Zegler is widely known for her angelic singing voice, which she showcases repeatedly throughout the movie in multiple songs that her character performs.

   The film begins with a ceremony that fans of the franchise have come to know as the ‘Reaping,’ where a boy and girl from each of the 12 districts are selected to compete in the tenth Annual Hunger Games and fight to the death. During the ceremony, young Snow is far from pleased to hear that he has been assigned to mentor Lucy Grey, a singer from District 12. However, through political savvy and understanding of spectacle, the two work together to try and win the Hunger Games.

   Overall, the movie is an incredibly enjoyable one and serves as an effective prelude to the rest of the Hunger Games movies. Blyth and Zegler put on extremely convincing performances that have you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of the film, and by the end, it is abundantly clear just who is a songbird and who is a snake.