I wasn't really worried about whether director Francis Lawrence, who shepherded three of the four previous Hunger Games movies, would deliver a very well made and watchable flick with The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. But I was worried that there wouldn't be much point to this thing, since villain-focused prequels aren't usually that worthwhile. What I found instead was the best and most interesting film in this series.

There's a moment in the middle that summed the whole thing up for me. Coriolanus Snow, who will grow up to become the evil President Snow from the previous movies, is tasked with helping popularize District 12's tribute in the 10th annual Hunger Games in order to win a large amount of money from the father of one of his wealthy classmates. The noble Snow family has fallen on hard times in the years since the death of its patriarch, Coriolanus's father, and this prize could return them to some measure of prominence.

His tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, is wary of him despite him being by far the most helpful mentor--she knows he's probably not doing it because he cares about her. So she demands to know what really matters to him: helping her live through this hell, or winning the money?