The trailer for *The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping* offers a visually stunning and colorful journey, though fans of Suzanne Collins’s books are aware of the darker undertones lurking beneath. Directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed every *Hunger Games* film except the first, this prequel follows the journey of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark’s mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, as he faces the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. Each Quarter Quell features a new sadistic twist, and this one is particularly brutal with 48 young tributes instead of the usual 24.
The trailer highlights the four District 12 tributes entering the arena: Haymitch, the affluent Maysilee Donner (Mckenna Grace), oddsmaker Wyatt Callow (Ben Wang), and the young Louella McCoy (Molly McCann). A key figure from District 12 to watch is Lenore Dove Baird (Whitney Peak), Haymitch’s beloved and a Covey member introduced in *The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes*.
The trailer also showcases familiar faces from *The Hunger Games* trilogy. President Snow (Ralph Fiennes) continues to menace District 12 tributes, Plutarch Heavensbee (Jesse Plemons) lays the foundation for the rebellion to come 25 years later, and Caesar Flickerman (Kieran Culkin) adds sparkle and showmanship to the media coverage of the Hunger Games. Effie Trinket (Elle Fanning) is discovering her talent as a tribute stylist, and District 3 victor Wiress (Maya Hawke) exploits the arena’s technology.
For an in-depth look at these characters, including an unrecognizable Glenn Close as Capitol escort Drusilla Sickle, view the full trailer. *The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping* hits theaters on Nov. 20.