---
title: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2"
year: 2015
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2"
fi1m_id: "the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2"
imdb_id: "tt1951266"
tmdb_id: 131634
wikidata_id: "Q10307713"
fi1m_score: 61
critics_score: 62
critics_reviews: 30
published: "2026-10-05T13:36:02.613211+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-05T13:36:02.960326+00:00"
region: "JP"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)

Directed by Francis Lawrence · 2h 17m · Eirin G · Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

## Identity

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2
- **IMDb ID:** tt1951266
- **TMDB ID:** 131634
- **Wikidata ID:** Q10307713
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951266/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/131634, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10307713

**Fi1m score: 61** · Critics 62 from 30 reviews

*In a sentence:* Everyone is in grey, everything is concrete, and the war stops every twenty minutes for someone to cry in a stairwell

> Francis Lawrence closes the series with a grim, careful war film that has one great set piece and about forty minutes it does not need. Jennifer Lawrence and Donald Sutherland hold it up; the decision to split the last book does not.

## Synopsis

Panem, the final year of the war. In the underground bunkers of District 13, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is recovering from an attack by Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), whom the Capitol has conditioned to kill her. President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) want her in front of a camera as the Mockingjay; Katniss wants to be in the Capitol with an arrow for President Snow (Donald Sutherland). After the rebels take District 2, she stows away to the front and joins a squad with Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin) and a film crew, advancing street by street through a city laced with booby traps the Capitol calls pods. Then Coin sends Peeta to join them.

## Review

Francis Lawrence’s third film in the series, and the second half of the last novel in Suzanne Collins’s trilogy, finishes the job with the arena gone and a war in its place. Katniss Everdeen is no longer a contestant. She is a symbol owned by a committee, and the film is about what the committee does with her and what she does to get free of it. It is grim, careful and well acted, it has one sequence that frightened us properly, and it is about forty minutes too long, because there was half a book to fill and the film fills it.

Jennifer Lawrence carries nearly every scene and does it hoarse. Katniss opens the film with a damaged voice and a brace on her neck, saying as little as she can, and Lawrence makes the silences count; you can watch her decide not to trust someone across a briefing table. Her best scenes are opposite Donald Sutherland, who plays President Snow as a man who has already lost and is enjoying the view. They understand each other better than anyone on their own side does. Julianne Moore’s Coin, in a grey bob and a flat, patient voice, is the quieter threat: every speech is about the people and none of it is to them.

Jo Willems shoots the Capitol as a city after a bombing, in the colour of wet cement, and the rebels’ fatigues, by Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller, are only a shade darker than the rubble. Coin wears the same grey as her bunkers; Snow still has a white rose in his lapel, the one bright thing the film allows him. Philip Messina’s Capitol is a concrete estate the size of a county, and his pods are the best idea in it: a plaza that erupts in black tar, a courtyard that floods, streets that look empty and are mined. For its middle hour the film has a shape, one block at a time, and it is at its most watchable when a squad is standing at a corner working out which way is less likely to kill them.

Then they go underground, and for ten minutes the film is as good as anything in the series. Pale, eyeless creatures come up through the sewers hissing Katniss’s name, lit only by the squad’s lamps. Mark Yoshikawa and Alan Edward Bell cut it fast and clean, so we always know where the exit is and how far away, and James Newton Howard drops the orchestra to a low drone. We were frightened. We jumped at least twice, and we forgot we were watching a 12A until the squad was back on the street. It is the one stretch with the nerve of the first two films, and it is over quickly.

The trouble is everything the film does to fill its running time. The first forty minutes are a second set-up: the bunkers of District 13 again, the propaganda crew again, Katniss asking to be sent to the front and being told no. Peter Craig and Danny Strong’s screenplay gives Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) a conversation about which of them she will choose while she pretends to sleep, and it is as awkward as that sounds. Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks are here for a few scenes each; Banks gets one good look and Harrelson gets nothing to do. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Plutarch appears briefly and says little, and the film is tactful about it.

*Catching Fire* (2013) had an arena and a clock, and Francis Lawrence used both. This has neither, and the decision to split the novel means it starts with its momentum already spent. The second half takes turns we will not describe. We will say that the film is braver about them than most franchise finales, and one caught us off guard and upset us; we will also say that it then ends four or five times, and by the last of them we had stopped feeling anything and started noticing the fades to black.

Watch it close to *Part 1* (2014), because this is the second half of one film and plays better as one. The sewer earns the certificate, the two presidents earn the ticket, and the rest is a long grey walk between them. It runs 137 minutes and carries a 12A.

*Fi1m score 61, published 5 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come down in favour of this finale, if not by much: fourteen of the thirty reviews are positive, ten mixed and six negative. Jennifer Lawrence’s performance is singled out by almost everyone, with particular credit for the gap she plays between Katniss’s private misery and her public image. The action is the other point of agreement, above all the sequence in the Capitol sewers, and several reviews say the film takes the ethics of war and propaganda more seriously than a blockbuster needs to.

The reservations gather around length and shape. The split-book structure, the slow opening and the succession of endings are faulted again and again, and the dour final stretch wears down even sympathetic critics. The spread is wide: The Wrap calls it smart, exciting and heartfelt, while The Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times find it tedious and anti-climactic, and Eye for Film, alone, blames Lawrence herself.

## Straight answers

**Is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 worth watching?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* is worth watching if you have followed the series this far, and we scored it 61. It is grim, well acted and about forty minutes too long, with one sewer sequence that frightened us properly and a great deal of grey waiting around it. Newcomers and the impatient will find it a long walk.

**How long is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, and what is it rated?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* runs 2h 17m and is rated G by the Eirin in Japan. It is an action and adventure film.

**Where can I watch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 in Japan?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* is available to rent from Apple TV from ¥440. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* carries a 12A and earns it: a street-by-street war through a booby-trapped city, with a sewer sequence of pale, eyeless creatures that made us jump twice. There is no gore to speak of, but it is sombre throughout and the second half upset us. Fine for teenagers; younger children will find the creatures and the tone hard going.

**How does The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 compare to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* is the better of the two halves, because it has a war to show rather than a camera crew to follow. *Part 1* has the stronger idea and stalls on it; this one has the stronger set pieces and the slower start. They are one film cut in two and play best watched together.

**Is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 based on a true story or a book?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* is adapted from the second half of Suzanne Collins's novel *Mockingjay*, the last book in her trilogy; it is not a true story. Splitting the book is the film's main problem, since it starts with its momentum already spent. You do not need to have read it, and readers may notice how thoroughly every page is filled.

**Do you need to have seen the other The Hunger Games films before The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2?**

*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* is the fourth and last film in the series and does not stand alone. It picks up mid-war from where *Part 1* stopped, with Katniss recovering from an attack and Peeta already conditioned to kill her, and explains none of it. Start with the first film; this one is only for those who have seen the other three.

**What should I watch after The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2?**

After *The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2*, try [*Battle Royale*](https://film.one/film/battle-royale) (2000, Fi1m 83): The Japanese film this series owes a debt to, and far nastier about paying it. Then [*Children of Men*](https://film.one/film/children-of-men) (2006, Fi1m 85): Another grey, bombed-out revolution, shot in long takes with the nerve this one lacks; and [*Come and See*](https://film.one/film/come-and-see) (1985, Fi1m 92): A child in a war; the film this one is gesturing at when it goes quiet.

**What order should I watch the The Hunger Games films in?**

Release order is the safe choice for The Hunger Games, and it is the order [our collection page](https://film.one/collections/the-hunger-games) lists them in. *The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2* is the most recent of the 4 The Hunger Games titles on Fi1m; before it comes [*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1*](https://film.one/film/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1). [The full order.](https://film.one/collections/the-hunger-games.md)

### Reviews we read (30)

- **Radio Times**, Emma Simmonds (4/5): The review gives the finale a positive rating. It singles out Katniss’s determination and the tense action for praise. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-qy2bev/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2/)
- **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (4/5): The review calls the finale a gritty, somber conclusion rather than a straightforward victory parade. It suggests that this mournful tone suits the action series. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2)
- **Total Film**, Matt Maytum (4/5): Maytum finds the film a satisfying, high-stakes send-off, despite clunky moments and sidelined supporting characters. He especially praises Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and the film’s impressive action set-pieces. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-review/)
- **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the final installment the franchise’s most satisfying film. The available text singles out its overall satisfaction, without specifying a particular element. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-review/5096319.article)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (75/100, inferred): Debruge finds the finale a dark, deliberate and satisfying conclusion, though its succession of endings strains patience. He praises Jennifer Lawrence’s subtle performance and the film’s carefully built Capitol siege. [Read](https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-film-review-1201632920/)
- **Empire**, Helen O'Hara (70/100, inferred): O'Hara finds it a compelling, emotionally weighty finale, though its solemnity and fidelity to the book sometimes bog it down. She particularly praises the tense, inventive action sequences and Jennifer Lawrence's central performance. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-review-2/)
- **Film Comment**, Michael Sragow (70/100, inferred): The piece presents the film as a gritty conclusion that avoids an upbeat finish. Its standfirst singles out Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and frames the story around trust. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/deep-focus-the-hunger-games-the-mockingjay-part-2/)
- **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (B-): Dowd finds the finale bleak and overlong, but says its willingness to confront the ethics of revolution helps redeem its brooding tone. He praises its sharp critique of how both sides manipulate Katniss as a public image. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/mockingjay-part-2-ends-the-hunger-games-series-on-a-pre-1798185708)
- **Vulture**, David Edelstein (70/100, inferred): Edelstein finds the film a potent, modern antiwar saga, though its conclusion lands with a whimper. He especially praises Jennifer Lawrence’s vivid portrayal of Katniss’s anguished disconnect between her inner self and public heroic image. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/review-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2.html)
- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page is blocked, so the review's verdict cannot be assessed. Its specific praise or criticism is unavailable. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-hunger-games-mockingjay---part-2-2015)
- **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The page is identified as a review, but its text is unavailable, so the critic’s verdict cannot be established. No specific praise or complaint can be verified. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/movies/review-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-katnisss-final-battle.html)
- **IndieWire**, Nick Schager (C+): Schager finds the finale visually dull, dramatically inert, and weighed down by muddled plotting. He singles out the subterranean mutant sequence as a thrilling exception, while praising Jennifer Lawrence’s commanding performance. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-starring-jennifer-lawrence-liam-hemsworth-josh-hutchinson-more-104644/)
- **Little White Lies**, Sophie Monks Kaufman (4/3/2): The critic finds the finale flat and underpowered, despite the strength of the earlier world-building. Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and her chemistry with Donald Sutherland are singled out as its chief pleasures. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2)
- **The Guardian**, Benjamin Lee (3/5): Lee finds the finale patchy, with uneven pacing and a rushed, ineffective climax. He praises the gruesome, finely choreographed action and the film’s unusually thoughtful treatment of war’s effects on young people. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/04/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-review-jennifer-lawrence)
- **Sight and Sound**, Sophie Mayer (50/100, inferred): Mayer finds the film politically sharp but caught in a tension between condemning spectacle and relying on it. She praises Jennifer Lawrence’s expressive performance, while criticizing the idealized closing image as laughable. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2)
- **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (1.5/4): Cole finds the film terminally conventional, weighed down by repetitive setup and dialogue that undercuts its action and characters. He singles out Donald Sutherland and Julianne Moore for commanding performances that expose the younger leads’ limited material. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2/)
- **Evening Standard**, David Sexton (35/100, inferred): Sexton finds the sequel overlong and uneven, with too little story to sustain its running time. He praises Jennifer Lawrence’s screen presence, which he says gives the film distinction. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-film-review-jennifer-lawrence-is-clearly-too-good-for-the-film-a3107746.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (30/100, inferred): Turan finds the finale earnest and acceptable but anti-climactic and emotionally static. He praises its briskly executed action set pieces, while faulting the split-book structure for draining the story of energy. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-hunger-games-review-20151119-column.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (30/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the finale overlong and often tedious, though its climax is handled adeptly. He particularly praises Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and the dramatic tension around Coin’s increasingly authoritarian ambitions. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-5-836933/)
- **The New Yorker** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the finale baffling for newcomers and slow to deliver its thrills. They fault its lax effects but single out Donald Sutherland’s performance as a bright spot. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2)
- **The Wrap**, Alonso Duralde (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the finale smart, exciting, heartfelt, and among the year’s most satisfying popcorn movies. They praise its trenchant political satire and its ability to balance thrilling action with empathetic characters. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/mockingjay-part-2-review-jennifer-lawrence-hunger-games-josh-hutcherson-liam-hemsworth/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Stefan Pape (85/100, inferred): Pape considers it an intense, worthy conclusion and the franchise’s strongest entry since the first film. He praises Jennifer Lawrence’s nuanced performance, while noting that the ending takes too long to close. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-review/)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (4/5): Crow finds the finale wholly satisfying, emotionally resonant, and unusually thoughtful for a blockbuster. He especially praises Jennifer Lawrence’s mature performance and the film’s morally ambiguous treatment of war. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/books/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, Simon Reynolds (78/100, inferred): The critic calls it a satisfying, emotionally forceful conclusion to the series, despite a slow start and an overlong ending. He especially praises the tense sewer sequence and Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a772900/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-first-review/)
- **Paste**, Michael Burgin (6.8): Burgin finds the finale largely delivers what audiences expect, while noting that its structure feels ragged without the earlier films’ arena framework. He praises the cast, especially Jennifer Lawrence, as a dependable strength. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-hunger-games/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2)
- **Consequence**, Leah Pickett (65/100, inferred): Pickett finds the finale morose and gruesome but also weighty, chilling, and sometimes exhilarating. She singles out Jennifer Lawrence’s layered performance for praise, while criticizing the awkward romance and tedious love triangle. [Read](https://consequence.net/2015/11/film-review-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (65/100, inferred): Hammond finds the finale excessively grim and somewhat overlong, though it should satisfy fans and closes the saga earnestly. He particularly praises Jennifer Lawrence’s mesmerizing presence, which he says helps overcome the story’s flaws. [Read](https://deadline.com/2015/11/hunger-games-mockingjay-2-review-jennifer-lawrence-finale-1201629165/)
- **NME** (65/100, inferred): The critic calls it a strong farewell and an excellent adaptation, though it falls short of the triumphant ending the franchise deserved. They praise its subtle handling of complex themes, while faulting the dour final half hour. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-16323-309166)
- **The Playlist** (64/100, inferred): The page content is blocked, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No specific praise or complaint can be verified. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-starring-jennifer-lawrence-liam-hemsworth-josh-hutchinson-more-20151118/)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (15/100, inferred): The critic finds the film absurd, dull, and rushed, with little thrill. They single out the weak performances, especially Jennifer Lawrence’s, as losing badly to the effects. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-2015-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Francis Lawrence
- **Director:** Francis Lawrence
- **Screenplay:** Danny Strong, Peter Craig
- **Novel:** Suzanne Collins
- **Cinematography:** Jo Willems
- **Editor:** Alan Edward Bell, Mark Yoshikawa
- **Music:** James Newton Howard
- **Production design:** Philip Messina
- **Costume design:** Kurt Swanson, Bart Mueller
- **Producer:** Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik
- **Cast:** Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen; Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark; Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne; Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy; Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket; Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin; Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee; Jeffrey Wright as Beetee Latier
- **Runtime:** 2h 17m
- **Certificate (Eirin):** G
- **Release (Japan):** 20 November 2015
- **Genres:** Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
- **Part of:** [The Hunger Games](https://film.one/collections/the-hunger-games.md) · 4 of 4
- **Budget:** $160 million
- **Box office:** $653 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoKIqLEGhI0

## Where to watch in Japan

- Apple TV: rent ¥440, hd
- Apple TV: buy ¥1,100, sd

*Checked 2026-10-05.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HU, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, KR, MX, MY, NO, NZ, PA, PH, RO, SE, SG, SK, TH, TR, US, VN. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie 2016: Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Battle Royale* (2000), Fi1m 83: The Japanese film this series owes a debt to, and far nastier about paying it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md)
- *Children of Men* (2006), Fi1m 85: Another grey, bombed-out revolution, shot in long takes with the nerve this one lacks. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/children-of-men.md)
- *Come and See* (1985), Fi1m 92: A child in a war; the film this one is gesturing at when it goes quiet. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/come-and-see.md)
- *The Battle of Algiers* (1966), Fi1m 93: Rebels, occupiers and the cameras between them, with no side allowed a clean win. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-battle-of-algiers.md)
- *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story* (2016), Fi1m 70: A franchise war film that commits to what rebellion costs, and does not flinch. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story.md)

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2