The Hunger Games: the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

This suitably bleak prequel is set 64 years before the events of the first Hunger Games film. It chronicles the rise to power of the young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), the autocratic president-to-be originally played by Donald Sutherland. With the Games waning in popularity, Snow and other political wannabes are tasked with mentoring contestants of the Tenth Annual Hunger Games in an attempt to make them more audience friendly. Snow lucks out when he's paired with Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a cocky tribute with a determination to win. Returning director Francis Lawrence makes the bold decision to stage all the big action scenes in the middle of the film, meaning this is more of a character-led dystopian tale, with a tragic relationship at its core. Despite some jarring moments of hokey artifice - and a surprising amount of singing - the film is compelling and dark, and benefits from an impressive cast including Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage, plus evocative production design and some gut-wrenching twists.