Francis Lawrence puts his best foot forward in adapting Stephen King’s “The Long Walk”
The Long Walk, published in 1979 under the pseudonym Robert Bachman, was the first story ever written by Stephen King. The 2025 film adaptation of King’s reflection on Vietnam-era America feels both particularly relevant and timeless. The film’s unflinching violence provides a sharp and shocking contrast to the emotional connections forming between the characters, and these two aspects complement each other to a devastating degree.
Set in a dystopian late-20th-century America, The Long Walk follows a group of 50 boys competing in a competition to simply…walk, for as long as possible. There’s no stopping, no breaks, no finish line, and only one winner. The simplicity of the rules makes it easy enough for viewers to follow along. The boys must stay at a pace quicker than 3 miles per hour and can only fall below this pace three times, or they’re killed. If a contestant maintains pace for an hour, they have one of their strikes removed.
Since The Long Walk is a dystopian thriller following a group of teens in a competition where losing means death, it only makes sense that the Hunger Games film series helmer, Francis Lawrence, would direct this project as well. Lawrence brings to life a script from JT Mollner and does an excellent job of making the world feel equal parts mysterious and recognizable. As the contestants trudge on for dozens of miles along what seems to be an interstate, they pass boarded-up homes & storefronts, dead & diseased animals, and abandoned vehicles, leaving the audience to wonder what has happened in this version of America that has led to this alternate history.
Although the Walk is supposedly a huge event, the boys pass only a few spectators, the bulk of in-person viewers opting to watch the final stretch of the competition. The people the group passes watch them with equal parts intrigue and disdain. The majority of the time, the boys are left by themselves, with only their military escort to keep them company, leaving them plenty of time to form the friendships that are central to the film.
The characters and performances in The Long Walk are what elevate it from a middling dystopian thriller to an emotionally effective film. Our protagonist is Ray Garraty, played by Cooper Hoffman, best known for his leading role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 film Licorice Pizza. Garraty quickly forms a friend group (self-dubbed the “Muskateers”): ever optimistic Peter McVries (David Jonsson), religious deep-souther Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot), and scrawny, foul-mouthed nerd Hank Olson (Ben Wang). These four represent the core of the movie, and watching their friendship form and develop is the best part of it. All four turn in excellent performances, particularly the leading two, Hoffman and Jonsson, who go from light banter to a deep emotional friendship and brotherhood over the course of the film.
The supporting cast is also great. Judy Greer plays Garraty’s distraught mother. Her scenes at the beginning of the film where she begs her son not to go, even though it’s already too late, are heart wrenching. The boys on the walk are given the occasional motivation by The Major, played by Mark Hamill, an almost cartoonish strongman character who is both the creator and “host” of the walk. The Major provides motivational encouragement to the boys and tells the teens how inspiring they are to the rest of the country.
The violence in the film, although happening only in flashes, is brutal and unflinching. Since the bulk of the film essentially consists of conversations between the characters, these moments are especially effective, reminding us and the characters that this competition is life-or-death, and making the depth of the friendships overwhelmingly tragic, as we know only one of the boys can survive. The Long Walk balances its heartfelt core with sudden violence in a way that lets the audience feel the tragedy and pointlessness of the title event. Carried by its strong central performances and its depiction of friendship and brotherhood in a violent and uncaring setting, the film is deeply resonant in a time where violence feels too common and empathy not common enough.
The Long Walk is available to stream digitally on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and other streaming services and will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 25.
