The Long Walk: Review. By Daniel Rester

The Long Walk was the first novel Stephen King ever wrote, though it was not his first to be published. Despite coming out in 1979, the book still holds relevant messages. King has frightened readers with sharp-toothed vampires, clowns in sewers, monsters in mist, and more, but it’s the author’s vision of a possible totalitarian America that remains one of his most disturbing. 

Screenwriter JT Mollner and director Francis Lawrence have adapted King’s novel into a powerful film. It follows fifty young men living in a dystopian America who participate in an event called “The Long Walk.” All of them are to continually walk at 3 miles per hour while being escorted by a military squad in vehicles. Anyone who falls below the set speed is given three warnings before being shot to death. The last man standing will be given a cash prize and one wish. 

The story mostly focuses on Ray (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter (David Jonsson). Ray has personal reasons for being in the contest, while Peter wants to possibly use the wish to help future contestants. They also come to interact with Billy (Garrett Wareing), Gary (Charlie Plummer), Hank (Ben Wang), and others along the way as men die around them and the squad’s leader – known only as “The Major” (Mark Hamill) – stays nearby. 

This is not an easy watch. Mollner allows some of the victims to show dark sides, and Lawrence doesn’t shy away from staging the violence. There are often close-ups of exhausted men having their brains blown out. The soldiers are robotic deliverers of evil as they do nothing but shout warnings and fire weapons. The environments surrounding the long road are often barren and lonely. 

The Long Walk isn’t endlessly hopeless though, finding moments of grace and humanity and stressing the importance of not bending knees to vile men. The young victims often joke around in order to hide their fears. Many of them show empathy and warmth and try to assist each other as they fall down. Some of the ones who survive long enough even find themselves making new friends. These elements keep The Long Walk from being as bleak as, say, Salò (1975). 

Hoffman and Jonsson have excellent chemistry and deliver two of the standout performances of the year. Both of them have impressed in the past, with Hoffman shining in Licorice Pizza (2021) and Jonsson stealing the show in Alien: Romulus (2024). The Long Walk allows them to push themselves as actors again as they dig deep into their characters.  

The supporting cast is pretty strong too. Plummer manages to bring humanity to Gary when the character could have easily become cartoonish due to some of his foolish decisions. Judy Greer also shines in the small but pivotal role of Ray’s mother, Ginnie. Hamill is occasionally unsettling as The Major, but his growly vocal choices feel a little over the top.  

Mollner and Lawrence put the audience with the contestants right from the beginning and rarely move away from them. On one hand, this keeps the story very focused on the main characters. On the other hand, it leaves the world around them feeling a bit underdeveloped. Some of the dialogue hints at aspects of the totalitarian state, but it all feels a bit vague by the end. 

A few of the emotional scenes could have used more subtlety. Jeremiah Fraites’ music score has beautiful passages, but it can be distracting at times as it is employed heavily. Mollner’s characters occasionally stay too chatty as well when fewer words would have worked better. 

The Long Walk barely misses the mark of being a great film. It is still really good though. Lawrence and Mollner find the power and soul of King’s pages, and Hoffman and Jonsson are sublime in their roles. 

Rating: 8/10

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