Mockingjay Part 1 (2014): Cast, Plot, Runtime and Streaming

Mockingjay Part 1 is about Katniss Everdeen being recruited as the symbol of a rebellion against the Capitol after she is pulled out of the wrecked arena. The story opens in District 13, a hidden underground base run by the rebels, where its leader President Alma Coin and the strategist Plutarch Heavensbee want her to become the Mockingjay, a public face for the uprising. Katniss is shaken and reluctant, partly because Peeta Mellark is still in the Capitol's hands. When she sees him appearing in Capitol broadcasts, she agrees to take on the role, on terms she sets.

The film is the third in the main series, following the hunger games 2012 and catching fire, and it leads straight into mockingjay part 2. If you are new to the saga, hunger games movies in order shows where it sits, and the hunger games timeline places it in the story.

In full, Mockingjay Part 1 follows Katniss from reluctant symbol to a rebel figure whose closest ally is taken from her and returned as a threat. Katniss survives the arena and wakes up in District 13, where the rebels have built a society underground. Coin and Heavensbee ask her to act as the symbol of the revolt, and she resists at first, but the sight of Peeta speaking for the Capitol on television changes her mind.

She then visits damaged districts and a hospital with a film crew, and the footage becomes propaganda that spreads defiance. President Snow answers with violence, including an air raid on a hospital full of the wounded. Peeta's televised messages grow more troubling, and Katniss realizes he is being used against her.

A rebel attack on a dam is followed by a Capitol strike on District 13 itself, and everyone shelters underground. A team that includes Gale Hawthorne then goes to the Capitol to pull Peeta and other captured victors out. The rescue works, but Peeta has been conditioned to see Katniss as a threat, and when he is brought to her he attacks and tries to strangle her. Katniss is left shaken while doctors work out how to undo the damage. Coin then points the rebels toward District 2, the Capitol's remaining military stronghold, as the next target.

Mockingjay Part 1 had its premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on November 10, 2014, ten days before its UK release. It opened in the UK and Australia on November 20, 2014, and in the US on November 21, 2014. The certifications are PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia.

The film was a commercial success. According to Box Office Mojo, it earned $762 million worldwide on a $125 million budget, made up of $337 million domestic and $425 million international (The Numbers lists a slightly different international total). For the series comparison, see hunger games box office.

Did Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 come out at the same time? No. They were filmed together, but they reached theaters a year apart: Part 2 followed on November 20, 2015 in the US. The full run of releases is covered in how many hunger games movies are there.

The ending of Mockingjay Part 1 is a rescue that succeeds on paper and fails in practice: Peeta is pulled out of the Capitol, but he has been brainwashed and violently attacks Katniss. He is locked away under medical care while the rebels look for a way to reverse the conditioning, and Coin announces that the rebels will target the Capitol stronghold in District 2. The film stops there and leads directly into mockingjay part 2.

So, why end on an attack rather than a victory? In my opinion, it is the most honest place to stop, because the film has spent its running time on propaganda, and the cost of that propaganda finally lands on a person. Peeta's televised messages were the reason Katniss agreed to be the Mockingjay, and the strangling scene turns that same screen war into physical harm. The film builds toward it patiently: the hospital visit filmed for the propaganda reel, the air raid that Snow sends in answer, the dam attack and the Capitol strike on District 13 all show that this war is fought with cameras as much as weapons. It could be argued that the story is stronger for withholding a battle, although I accept that some viewers read it as a pause rather than an ending.

Why does Peeta attack her, and is it a twist? The rescue team, which includes Gale, brings back a man the Capitol has conditioned to see Katniss as a threat, so the attack is the payoff of the broadcasts rather than a surprise. It also reverses the arc of the earlier films. In The Hunger Games (2012) Peeta is the person who protects her in front of the cameras, and here the same face on a screen is turned against her. Gale, who was whipped in catching fire, is the one who goes into the Capitol to fetch him, which gives the love triangle a bitter edge rather than a romantic one.

The production context explains the shape. Lionsgate announced on July 10, 2012 that the final book would be split into two films, and Francis Lawrence was confirmed to direct both in November 2012. TheWrap reports the two parts were shot back to back at a combined cost of about $250 million, so a closing image that hands over to the second film was a structural choice, not an accident of editing. Part 1 carries a $125 million budget and earned $762 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo, yet it has the least conventional action of the four main films.

Perhaps the sharpest contrast is with the hunger games 2012, which was built around a televised contest, whereas this film is built around who controls the broadcast. At 123 minutes it is also the shortest of the four main films, against 146 for Catching Fire and 137 for Part 2. As such, anyone who wants resolution has to continue to Part 2, and the film is best treated as the first half of a single story that ends there.

Principal photography on Mockingjay Part 1 began in September 2013 in Atlanta and Georgia, including Rockmart and Newnan, with later work in France and Germany. Early shooting also took place in Boston and Los Angeles.

Street scenes were shot in Paris and Ivry sur Seine from May 2014, and a Panem set was built at Noisy le Grand, near Paris. Principal photography wrapped in Berlin on June 20, 2014. The two Mockingjay films were shot back to back.

Most of the notable details about Mockingjay Part 1 come from its production, which was split from the final book and shot alongside Part 2.

• Lionsgate announced on July 10, 2012 that the final book would be split into two films, and Francis Lawrence was confirmed to direct both in November 2012.
• Both parts were shot back to back at a reported combined cost of $250 million.
• Principal photography began in September 2013 in Atlanta and wrapped on June 20, 2014 in Berlin.
• The Panem set at Noisy le Grand near Paris was built on the same site used for the 1984 film Brazil.
• Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014 after finishing most of his scenes, and the film carries a dedication to him before the closing credits.
• The Trinity School boys' choir recorded tracks for James Newton Howard's score.
• Robert Knepper's character Antonius does not appear in the novel.

For how the films compare with the books, see hunger games books vs movies, and for the district details see hunger games districts. Our verdicts on each film sit under hunger games reviews, and a ranking is on hunger games movies ranked.