This “historical” narrative explores the origins of the eponymous films’ and books’ primary antagonist. It is brilliant in its delivery and content, both adding to and supplementing the originals’ story arc and suggesting, paradoxically, both the humanizing, existential angst and terror of its main character, Corialanus (later President) Snow.
The historical “shift” is projected upon the timeline of a fictional Panem, which morbidly intrigued us in the earlier films. Hints of a retro world come through in the meticulous set design and characterization of the principal roles, lending a strange hybrid of both Harry Potter-like elements and 1950s/real world nostalgia.
Thematically, the film’s focus on the emotional and moral trajectory of a young Snow is fascinating and nuanced. In the same way that Snow’s character is developed through the foil of Katniss in the earlier films, the puerile version of the eventual villain is brought to a curious illumination by way of the portrayal of Lucy Gray, whose humble, Americana demeanor belies the grandiosity and macabre ambience of a post “Dark Days” Panem. Snow’s fixation with her, which forces him to balance an ingrained opportunism with truly heartfelt emotions, presages the love/hate relationship he has with Katniss in his later days.
At once sympathetic and reviling, Corialanus’ transformation to President Snow is one that you will not want to miss.