What is the line between good and evil and how does one cross that line? The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, based on the 2020 novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, serves as a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy. 

In the futuristic, dystopian country of Panem, the government, led by President Snow, is totalitarian and cruel, often using military force and threatening its citizens in order to maintain control. After the Capitol defeats the 13 districts in the Panem Civil War, the government decides that two tributes from each district must be reaped to fight to the death in an annual event called the Hunger Games. 

At the beginning of the film, Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul asks protagonist Coriolanus Snow the purpose of the Hunger Games. With an unsure look on his face, Snow answers that the games are to “punish the districts for their rebellion and serve as a reminder of the war.” Dr. Gaul looks unsatisfied with his response.  

Throughout the film, Coriolanus is constantly faced with a moral dilemma. Despite being initially portrayed as a typical, good-natured adolescent, the antihero gradually steps over the line into evil as he is given opportunities to do the right thing, but due to his self-preserving nature, consistently serves his own self-interest at the expense of others. In the end, all his selfish decisions catch up to him, and Coriolanus completely transforms into the evil President Snow the audience is able to recognize from the original trilogy. 

At the end of the film, Dr. Gaul asks Snow for a second time the purpose of the Hunger Games. He answers differently and confidently asserts that the games are to “remind the capitol and the districts of how fast they can go from prey to predator.” This time, Dr. Gaul welcomes him with a satisfied grin. The Hunger Games are simply a reflection of real life: when put in a life or death situation, many choose to become a “predator” in order to survive. Thus, the games expose the worst part of human beings by outwardly demonstrating what they are capable of. 

At its core, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a story about the duality of human beings and the struggle to maintain integrity. “There’s a natural goodness built into us all. We can step across that line into evil, or not” says character Lucy Gray. President Snow is an example of how the line between good and evil is an easy one to cross: anybody can become a “villain,” but each and every person also has a choice to resist that temptation and choose to be good.