Josh Reviews The Long Walk

The Long Walk adapts the novel by Stephen King (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979).  Set in a world in which the United States has suffered economic collapse and is ruled by a fascistic military government, the film depicts the annual televised competition called The Long Walk, designed to inspire (and distract) the population.  Fifty boys compete to see who can walk the longest.  There is no finish line; the boys walk until only one remains and the others have all died.  Any boy who falls under the required walking speed of three miles per hour gets a warning; after three warnings, they are shot and killed.  Any boy who attempts to leave the road is shot and killed.  The winner gets one wish and a large sum of money.

Stephen King’s novel is terrific; horrifying and gripping.  The film adaptation, written by JT Mollner and directed by Francis Lawrence (who directed Constantine, I am Legend, and the Hunger Games films), is terrific.  It’s an impressively faithful adaptation of the novel.  The film grabs you by the guts and doesn’t let go until the credits role.  I was impressed at how quickly I was hooked into the story and fell in love with the characters.  The sharp writing and terrific casting does a great job at bringing life to all these boys (who could have easily been bland cannon fodder in lesser hands).

Francis Lawrence directed the Hunger Games films, which is fascinating because, of course, The Hunger Games is quite reminiscent of Mr. King’s novel.  Both are set in a dystopian world ruled by a fascist government, in which a violent television program in which kids are killed one by one is the centerpiece of the government’s effort to distract the population and cement their unquestioned rule.  But this is a much darker story.  The Long Walk is a hard R.  The film is absolutely horrifying and distressing.  Watching kids get murdered for two hours is wrenching.  But that is of course the point.  The novel, and the film, are unfortunately painfully relevant in the world in which we live here in 2025.  This is a pulpy dystopian adventure story, but at the same time it’s an angry film with a lot to say about our world today.  I like that balance.  The violence is unsettling, but the film — like the book — gains its true emotional power through its focus on the characters.

The casting is phenomenal.  The two main leads are both perfectly cast: Cooper Hoffman plays Ray Garraty and David Jonsson plays Peter McVries, two young men who don’t know one another before beginning the Walk, but who quickly form a powerful bond.  Mr. Hoffman is the son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, and he was impressive in the lead role in Licorice Pizza (and he was also great in Saturday Night).  Mr. Jonsson, meanwhile, came to my attention for his fantastic, star-making turn as the android Andy in Alien: Romulus.  I think the film does a great job of focusing in on the relationship between these two young men.  JT Mollner’s script builds upon the scaffolding of Mr. King’s novel to show us two men on different trajectories, and how they each transform the other.  I really liked how that plays out over the course of the film, right through to the devastating ending, and the chemistry between Mr. Hoffman & Mr. Jonsson is off the charts.  These are two great actors.  Mr. Jonsson gives a mid-movie monologue, when he sees a rainbow, that I found to be tremendously moving.  Mr. Jonsson is able to convey such charisma and force of will, balanced with a naturalism that is critical to grounding this potentially outlandish story.  Naturalism is also key to Mr. Hoffman’s performance, developing a classic “everyman” type of character that feels both universal and also specific.  These are great performances.

All the boys who are walking along with Ray and McVries are also brought to life by a fantastic group of young actors!  Ben Wang (American Born Chinese; Karate Kid: Legends) is funny and tragic as Hank Olson; Tut Nyuot is joyfully affable Art Baker, and then is able to skillfully pivot to deliver one of the film’s most heartbreaking moments in the home stretch; Garrett Wareing is perfectly enigmatic as Stebbins, the young man who seems the most prepared for the Walk; Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World) takes a character, Barkovitch, who could have been one-dimensionally villainous, and skillfully gives him layers of nuance; Joshua Odjick brings depth and dignity to the role of Collie Parker; Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit) makes the most of his every second on screen as Curley.  There aren’t many adults in the film, but Judy Greer (Arrested Development, Ant Man, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jeff Who Lives at Home) is terrific as Ray’s distraught mother.  Then there is Mark Hamill — who was great in another recent Stephen King movie adaptation, The Life of Chuck — who plays the Major, who is the face of the fearsome authoritarian military/government in charge of people’s lives.  Mr. Hamill’s performance is broad, to say the least.  It teeters on the edge of being silly, but I enjoyed watching Mr. Hamill chew the scenery.

This film is an extremely faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, which made me happy.  I was impressed by their fidelity to the source material.  JT Mollner’s script makes smart choices in the adaptation, skillfully trimming here and there to keep the story tight and focused.  The film is less than two hours, and it moves along at a pleasingly fast pace.  This film could have easily gotten repetitive, as one kid after another gets killed off, but Mr. Mollner and Mr. Lawrence always found a way to keep the story moving forward.  Rather than feeling repetitive, the deaths built in emotional power as the film barrels ahead to its’ wrenching ending.  And, wow, that ending.  It packs quite a punch.  It’s also quite different from the novel!!  It was the one major divergence from the novel — but you know what, I liked the movie’s ending even better than that of the novel!  (The ending is great on many levels; one concern that was on my mind in the film’s third act was that by casting an African American man in the role of McVries, I was worried that the movie might tread into John Coffey territory — which I’ll defend in The Green Mile, but I think would not have played well here — but the filmmakers skillfully avoided that potential pitfall.)  This changed ending manages to be both more hopeful and also more heartbreaking than that of the novel.  I loved it.  Bravo to Mr. Mollner and Mr. Lawrence for making all the right choices.

(The only small way in which the film adaptation fell short for me was in the absence of crowds along the Walkers’ route.  The Walkers’ interaction with the crowds played a big part of the novel.  I assume this was a budgetary consideration, and they did add a line into the movie about the Major’s ordering crowds to stay away from the route.  But without seeing all the people watching, I didn’t quite get the sense in the film of how everyone in this world was focused on watching this violent spectacle, and that was an important aspect of the story, in my opinion.  Oh well.)

This dark movie, in which kids are brutally murdered, is surely not for everyone.  I’m not sure it’s a movie I’ll be rushing to rewatch any time soon.  But I’m so glad to have seen it.  For a relatively small-scale, low-budget movie (apparently around $20 million), this was skillfully made, and I found it to be extremely emotionally affecting.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot in the days since I saw it.  If you’re a Stephen King fan, go out and support this film!

Please support my website by clicking through one of my Amazon links the next time you need to shop!  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  That means I’ll receive a small percentage from ANY product you purchase from Amazon within 24 hours after clicking through.  Thank you!