In a dystopian future, North America has become the nation of Panem, divided into 12 districts ruled by the Capitol. Annually, the Capitol hosts a televised event known as the Hunger Games, where one boy and one girl, termed "tributes," are selected from each district through a lottery system called "the Reaping" to participate in a fight to the death, with the sole survivor being the victor. The Games serve as punishment for a past rebellion and as a means of controlling the districts through fear.

On the day of the Reaping in District 12, the poorest of Panem's districts, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister Prim's place when Prim is chosen as the female tribute. Alongside Katniss, Peeta Mellark is selected as the male tribute. They are whisked away to the Capitol where they are prepped and paraded before the public in a build-up to the Games. Under the tutelage of their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, a previous victor, Katniss and Peeta must navigate the line between alliance and rivalry, and public persona and true self, as they prepare for the brutal and unforgiving arena, where they must compete against tributes who have trained for this moment their entire lives.