What do you think of when you hear Stephen King’s name? Horror, frights, clowns, dystopia? Well, you get some of those things in The Long Walk. And you get plenty more outside of that. The premise here is simple. There’s a contest known as “The Long Walk” where teenage boys compete to see who can walk to the longest. If you don’t maintain a speed of 3MPH or higher, you get a warning. You can lsoe warnings by keeping up speed for an hour, and if you get three warnings, you’re out of the game.

The world of The Long Walk is one plagued by poverty and inequality. There are the haves and the have-nots, and the US has seemingly lost “the great war”. The country has dipped into a place where it’s ruled by the military, and this sadistic game is the hope for future generations to get themselves out of a hole. There are plenty of characters in the film, one boy for each state, but the ones we focus on are Raymond Garraty #47 (played by Cooper Hoffman) and Peter McVries #23 (played by David Jonsson). Outside of them the cast also features Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, and Roman Griffin Davis. The military and the contest are led by The Major (played by Mark Hamill).

Over the course of the film, there’s plenty of classic King symbolism from writer JT Mollner. Francis Lawrence is also right at home as a director, the film feels very much like his previous classics in The Hunger Games series. But does the movie do the book a solid? Let’s find out in the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of The Long Walk.

The Good Of The Long Walk

First things first, The Long Walk made me ugly cry in the movie theater. I cannot remember the last time I ugly cried, maybe it was during IF (yeah, I know), but this movie broke me in ways that I haven’t felt in a very long time. The camaraderie and friendship on display between the cast is palpable. In particular, the chemistry between Hoffman and Jonsson is off the charts. I was putting myself in these guys’ shoes and at the end of the movie, they all felt like friends. It captures that sort of boyish way that guys make friends and how circles form between people. It’s not cliquey, and it makes the emotional scenes hit all that much harder.

The music in the film swells up and is part of the reason why those emotional moments hit so hard. Jeremiah Fraites did a fantastic job with the score. Jonsson and Hoffman are at the top of their game, but the supporting characters are the ones that make the film feel extra weighty. Tut Nyuot as Arthur Baker #6 and Ben Wang as Hank Olson #46 are the two who stand out the most. Their performances are raw with Baker as a sort of naive religious boy and Olson as the New Yorker with a potty mouth. Hamill is also devilish as The Major. He’s just skincrawling and quite frightening at how real his performance is.

That’s really what stands out with The Long Walk. It’s supposed to be this dystopian view into what *could* happen in the US. But it feels like we’re quite close to having boys go out and compete with their lives on the line for endless riches and one wish.

More Good Of The Long Walk

That terrifying feeling while watching the movie does evaporate at points. It’s at the moments where the boys sort of forget they’re competing against each other to the death and just get to hang out where The Long Walk shines. The hope of it all, the life-affirming moments. There’s so much darkness in the movie, but that feeling of hope and life shines through. These guys know that all but one of them will die. And here they are cracking jokes, helping each other out, trying to motivate each other. It’s a lot like life for all of us. That’s what I got out of The Long Walk. We’re all on the walk and we know our time is going to come, but we can all help each other before that time comes.

The twists and turns that the narrative takes might diverge a bit from the book and even the speed, but let’s face it, having the boys go 4 MPH in the original book versus 3 MPH in the movie isn’t that big of a difference and it makes the movie more enjoyable. When you get to the end of the film, there’s definitely a moment that’ll make people talk and think; that’s one of my favorite things about the film. It questions our own motivations but still leaves you with something to think about.

The Bad Of The Long Walk

The only thing I can see why people would be upset with The Long Walk are some of the narrative changes made from the book. There are things added to change up motivations that do feel a bit forced. Keeping the motivations of the boys doing their walk a mystery does make it feel a bit better than what we get in the film. Outside of that though, there’s not a lot to complain about.

The Long Walk is a masterpiece. Haunting, beautiful, immensely thought-provoking. One of the most captivating movies of the year, which should see David Jonsson with plenty of awards. For as devastating as the movie is, there’s so much beauty in it as well. I was emotional, I cried twice, and yet, there’s so much to enjoy about this movie. There are definitely some portions that are hard to watch, but it’s a necessary watch.

The Long Walk releases in theaters on September 12th, 2025.

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