The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is finally here – and winning rave reviews.

Set during the 10th annual Hunger Games, the film follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he mentors District 12's female tribute, Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler). The story may be set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, but there are plenty of hidden Easter eggs that hint at original trilogy's characters. Not only do we get to see Snow's origin story, the prequel also has plenty of subtle visual nods to the original Hunger Games films.

*Warning: spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ahead.*

Katniss references are everywhere

This film may be set years before Katniss' birth, but there are plenty of little references to the future rebel dotted throughout The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The most obvious may be Lucy Gray’s ostentatious bow that directly mirrors Katniss iconic bow in the first Hunger Games film.

"It was actually an improvised moment," director Francis Lawrence later said to Business Insider. "I came up with the idea on the day for her to do it, to do the curtsy bow."

Lawrence explained that he decided that Katniss' bow years later may have actually been a reference to Lucy Gray. "We were always looking at any given moment, through the process of making this film, of nodding to the origins of certain things," he said. "I thought it could be really interesting if Katniss had done it because she's heard that, generations ago, there was a woman who sort of irreverently did this curtsy bow after this performance on stage when she's dragged off to the games. I just liked the idea that Lucy Gray was actually the first one to do it and that there was a history of it."

Lucy Gray also does a series of spins that mirrors Katniss spin in her flame dress. “I also added a spin when I got on stage at the Hob in District 12 because of how many times Jennifer Lawrence had to spin as Katniss to get the dress to flame,” Zegler explained to Total Film. "I thought that was really important as well [to have] as many nods to her attitude as I could find. They are really very different characters but I think there are elements of them in each other respectively."

You will also hear Katniss name during the film. While Lucy Gray and Coriolanus are at the lakeside, Lucy Gray explains that her nickname for a swap potato is “Katniss”.

"I love the moment," producer Nina Jacobson told Today. "I can't wait to watch an audience and that first moment."

Finally, the new film also contains a subtle reference to Katniss' bow and arrow. "I placed a broken bow with a quiver of arrows in the arena when Snow is walking through that he sees, just as a quick nod to Katniss in the future," said Lawrence.

We will definitely all need to keep our eyes peeled.

The flowers on Lucy Gray's dress

There is one final reference to Katniss and her sister, Primrose. If you look very, very closely at Lucy Gray's dress, you'll notice that it is embroidered with both katniss and primrose flowers.

"You wanna give something to the fans and you wanna keep them really interested. So, in her corset, I had it all hand-painted with katniss and primrose flowers, and snakes," costume designer Trish Summerville told Variety. "So it kind of gives a nod to Katniss and Primrose in the other books and the other films."