In a future where America has fallen into an economic collapse, an annual contest named ‘’The Long Walk’’ is held where fifty teenage boys have the chance to earn a large sum of cash and a wish of any kind if they’re the last to survive a long trek across the country where those that fall behind get executed. One such participant is Raymond ‘’Ray’’ Garraty (played by Cooper Hoffman) who specifically chooses to enter in order to get close to The Major (played by Mark Hamill), the deranged military mind watching over this walk. Once the event gets going, Ray starts to connect with the other boys, mainly a Cajun wanderer named Peter McVries (played by David Jonsson), and even though all these boys have their own reasonings for entering, hope gets culled very quickly as more and more participants start to fall behind, with Ray and Peter trying to keep their group together in the hopes that the inevitable can be avoided, leading to an outpouring of personal baggage on what could be their final journey.
Having written the story during his freshman period eight years before his first published book, THE LONG WALK contains many of Stephen King’s familiar tropes including his strongest, resulting in a very harrowing experience that is rich in character, emotion and intensity. While a very one-track idea that won’t appeal to everyone, the intimate direction, engaging script, and fantastic performances across the board, make this a marathon that will leave you winded, but also changed by the end.
THE LONG WALK very much feels like a short story and, because of that, the overall plot and world building isn’t going to be that dense, meaning the directing, scripting and performances are going to be what help people relate to this story, and these aspects are very well handled. Lionsgate clearly saw the comparison this youth-driven dystopian death match had with their insanely popular film adaptation of The Hunger Games series, going so far as to get Francis Lawrence (who directed a majority of those features) to direct this film, and while largely different in scope and narrative heft, the beaten-down atmosphere, frenzied performances, and believable sense of resistance and futility is comparable and equally as engaging.
While not a perfect director, Lawrence as well as screenwriter, JT Mollner, nicely emulate the feel and spirit of King’s writing style, making the dialogue feel characterful but honest and believable, the tone full of grief but not without spirit, and an atmosphere that isn’t shy about its commentary or its occasionally cheesy delivery, but feels timeless in its ideas and execution.
With that said, this is a very singular experience that doesn’t provide as much to chew on as other works of the author, which does hold it back a touch. Like being on an actual marathon, the film will make you invested in the characters and their small but relatable problems, and keep you locked in for its nearly two hour running time without getting bored, but after it has concluded and you experience a clear but unsatisfying ending, you’ll think back fondly on your experience and appreciate how it moved you, but probably won’t have an intense desire to go for another walk.
This is a very well-engineered movie with everything working in its favour, but it’s not a feature that can be easily rewatched or will appeal to easily distracted audiences.
One of the best aspects of King’s writing is that he’s usually very good with his leads and the friendships they form. That sense of camaraderie is very apparent in this, with the entire premise being based around watching this large group of boys struggle through a dangerous game for either personal or selfless gains, and the bond felt between them is very well handled, particularly because of the acting. As previously stated, the characters are the most important aspect of this story, and how they’re performed and executed goes a long way to making this pretty one-track story continually feel emotionally resonant and raw.
The two strongest examples of this are Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson as the leads, portraying two characters that aren’t especially creatively written, in a very human, troubled and all-around likeable sense. Hoffman is given a few cheesy monologues that feel a little preachy, but his down-to-earth nature and very sensitive delivery makes him a calming centre to this chaotic and cold environment, and David Jonsson is proving to be one heck of a talent after his scene-stealing performance in Alien: Romulus with another gripping portrayal that just oozes charisma and presence with every line delivery. The bond between the two is so strong and authentic (and will result in some tears by the end), and while every actor is strong and brutally believable, these two are the runaway stars.
It’s hard to say any of the characters are incredibly delved into and even the more predominant supporting characters are positioned as fairly stock and have pretty obvious outcomes, but they’re performed in such a way that not only does their basic nature not become bothersome, but it still feels pretty painful when they die because of how strongly they express their anguish and sorrow.
Tut Nyuot and Ben Wang do a good job providing support for the two leads, Garrett Wareing and Joshua Odjick could’ve used more screen time but have enough intense stares and memorable deliveries to still come across as defined, Charlie Plummer as the psycho bully isn’t great, but has more thought put behind him than other examples of the trope, Judy Greer’s entire performance just seems to be aggressive sobbing, but she’s only used sparingly, and Mark Hamill looks like he’s having a ball playing the obviously villainous Major. With a voice made for playing over-the-top, slimy antagonists, his portrayal is the most overt response to the story’s clear commentary on war and the ridiculous pomp and circumstance surrounding what is in actuality a death sentence for the youth, and while another example of a pretty surface-level role, his delivery is flashy enough to make it memorable.
As the title states, the film is mainly spent with the characters walking, and that isn’t a very easy activity to make visually appealing for a long stretch. With a $20 million budget, few to no big names attached, and an environment that feels pretty regular despite the dystopian setting, it wasn’t a story that screamed a lavish production, but you can feel those involved putting their best foot forward to support the story.
The cinematography by Jo Willems will occasionally sprinkle in an establishing shot or focus on a collection of people watching the spectacle, but for the most part, the camera is kept at eye-view level with the participants, which helps build a sense of intimacy with the group, and because of the sparse editing and mostly ambient audio, it will catch the audience off guard when a slip-up does occur and a participant is quickly and coldly taken out. The film isn’t always quiet, and the musical score by Jeremaih Fraites serves very little and may even hinder a scene by feeling too shmaltzy, but its infrequent use at least means it’s not a constant problem.
THE LONG WALK is a very solid film that delivers a good but one-track idea in a very effective sense, but it’s pretty tricky to call it one of the greatest Stephen King adaptations. It’s definitely better constructed than some of his lesser adaptations, captures the essence more effectively, and plainly presents some of the author’s best components, but its singular nature and easy-to-predict trajectory makes it a hard rewatch. It’s a tough situation, as it is a very well-made movie with appropriate direction, smoothly translated scripting, a timeless believable production and atmosphere, and very gripping performances (particularly from Hoffman and Jonsson), but next to other stellar King adaptations, it might’ve needed to sprint in order to keep pace.
Awesome review.