A powerful movie that crosses several genres. From various post-apocalyptic movies we are shown the world after a worldwide disaster that has destroyed our civilization and left a more brutal one. From Spartacus the idea of gladiator games, with the added horror that these "fighters" are children who are presumably too naive to put up any resistance to the regime. From 1984 we have futuristic technology which can monitor anything the victims do, giving them no privacy in their last moments.
But the originality is in the heroine -- a tomboy determined to stay alive without losing her integrity. How can she keep herself and her friends alive in a fight when only one victim will be allowed to leave the arena intact, and an entire decadent empire is arrayed against her? This part was given to Jennifer Lawrence, who impressed audiences so well that she inspired numerous later action heroines -- Tris in DIVERGENT, Wonder Woman, Arya Stark, and others