The Long Walk is the latest movie adaptation of a Stephen King work (a 1979 novel penned under King’s pseudonym, “Richard Bachman”), as well as the latest film from acclaimed director Francis Lawrence. Lawrence is best known for his cult-classic adaptation of I Am Legend, as well as his career-defining work on the three Hunger Games sequel films, the prequel film A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and the upcoming second prequel Sunrise on the Reaping. From that rundown, it’s clear that Francis Lawrence has a fascination with characters who are forced to endure desperate situations (or contests) with little to no one to rely on accept found friends: and there could be no better project tailored to that subject matter than The Long Walk.
The film’s bleak story is set in an alternate version of the United States, where authoritarianism has fully taken hold, and the population lives desperate lives of barely being able to get by, all while having to show strict obedience to the state and its authority figures. Every year, a contest called “The Long Walk” is held along a stretch of road that runs hundreds of miles; a set of volunteers is picked from a opt-in pool of the young male population, to participate in a televised walking marathon that goes until the last man is standing. If contestants fall behind a certain pace, step off the official track, or deviate from the contest in any way, they get their “ticket” in the form of a bullet to the head (or worse) from the accompanying military convey. As the young men embark on the doomed trek, they begin to learn more about each other and, in some cases, form friendships. But what good is camaraderie when the end is just a step away? That question bonds some and breaks others, as the road forward also brings them closer to key realizations about the world they’re living in, and who they’ve become. (Sound familiar yet?)
It should be no surprise that Francis Lawrence is able to carve an eye-catching and cohesive cinematic experience out of The Long Walk. Visually elevating the socio-political-philosophical themes of genre works is practically Lawrence’s signature at this point, and this film is another showcase of just how talented he is at it, cinematically. The Long Walk features haunting visual metaphors all over the place; it forces the eye to reconcile with the brutality of its gruesome violence, and smoothly dovetails between moments of terror, humor, and even soulful hopefulness.
The real trick is making the viewer feel like the movie itself never breaks pace, even though it’s presented in the standard format, with scenes and progressions that have clear cuts in between them. That said, once the walk begins, there is no end to the propulsive tension of the film: there is only the inevitable shaving of characters, down to an equally inevitable and tragic final number. Those feelings of inevitability, desperation, hopelessness, frustration, and tragedy build with each loss, and arguably makes the script by JT Mollner feel twice as profound onscreen than it probably reads on paper. This film feels timely, relevant, and that much more terrifying for it. It should be made clear, though: Lawrence nails down the premise and the format of the film, but the actual meat on the bones comes from the ensemble of young actors whose interactions are the sole source of intrigue and entertainment for the 108-minute runtime.
David Jonsson is on a major roll as a breakout actor, following his starring role as a quirky android in Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus with a charasmatic and deeply-layered starring role in this film as Peter McVries (#23), the scarred-faced but heartful kid. Right on Jonsson’s heels is Cooper Hoffman, who is following his breakout role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Liquorice Pizza (2021) with the central lead role of Raymond Garraty (#47). Hoffman provides an affable everyman presence that belies the much deeper character work that unfolds over the course of the film. Hoffman also gives one of the more grueling physical performances in the bunch, as certain sequences and moments literally hang on Ray’s physicality and agility (or lack thereof). Ben Wang continues his own breakout run after Karate Kid: Legends earlier this year; his character Hank (#46) provides a lot of the best banter and one-liners in the movie, and still manages to also deliver some of film’s best dramatic gravitas (which speaks ot his range).
Up-and-coming actor Tut Nyuot is arguably getting his breakout with this film, playing Arthur (#6), the religious(ish) boy who trying to keep the things friendly or cordial. Rounding out the main characters of the ensemble is Charlie Plummer (Boardwalk Empire), who definitely makes an impression as rural boy Gary Barkovitch (#6), who has little care for anything other than toying with his fellow contestants. Star Wars icon Mark Hamill makes some key appearances as “The Major,” the nationally revered (read: feared) military leader who oversees The Long Walk contest. Hamill is more of a force and a satirical caricature than an actual character, and it’s a smart choice in screen presence to have him there.
Make no mistake: The Long Walk in no way walks away from its obligations as a horror movie. Lawrence makes the consequnences of failure unflinchingly real, every single kill. Because the movie takes such time and care building up its characters and the brushtrokes of their respective backstories, every loss feels like one – save for the expected quota of bit characters who help fill out the body count and provide moments of horror spectacle. The beauty of the work is that the keeping the focus solely on the boys and their walk makes every step feel loaded with perils that can be a small as a single ankle-turning misstep. That’s a feat few other horror-thriller movies can pull off, and makes for stressful and exhaustive viewing, in the best way.
However, the same thing that makes The Long Walk a success as a horror-thriller also makes come apart, somewhat, at the inevitable conclusion. It’s no deep mystery that the Stephen King’s tale is a socio-political allegory; Francis Lawerence’s film doesn’t shy away from confronting societal issues and building itself to a large thematic climax and message. The problem is, The Long Walk provides little to no visual context about what this version of America is, save for dialogue references, or symbolic inferences in the form of people, places, or different events witnessed along the road. By the end of the film it’s hard to feel like there’s any clear “resolution” to this story, or any effective “message” or seed of thought for people to mull over. The Long Walk ends up feeling more like a grueling exercise in brutality, and that in watching the film there’s little difference between audience and the slack-jawed onlookers that pop up along the road from time to time, hoping to see moments of death and carnage. It feels exploitative more so than enlightening, and it’s hard to imagine many viewers repeating the experience of watching young bodies get broken.
But as David Fincher’s Se7en constantly reminds us: horror-thrillers don’t need to follow the same happy ending rules as other films, and Lawrence certainly doesn’t seem to think the world is resolved just because The Long Walk exists. And he’s arguably right in that, for whatever it’s worth. It’ll be intresting to see how the film looks when we’re further down the road, looking back.
The Long Walk is now in theaters.
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