In a time where the vast majority of King adaptations are already on their second, or even third go round, it’s somewhat refreshing to find a film that’s tackling a earlier story of his that’s never made it to multiplexes before. First published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk bizarrely is the first of two King movies due this year that not only share the fact that they were first published under his nom de plume, but they also feature deadly games as a form of entertainment or inspiration in a dystopian future (the other is Edgar Wright’s The Running Man). However, while I’m sure the latter will come with more than it’s fair share of razzle dazzle, Francis Lawrence’s effort may easily be one of the grimmest wide release movies you’ll see all year.
Lace up your shoes, bring provisions and get into the right mindset, because believe you me, this will be a long walk.
After a civil war waged over nebulous reasons has brought the United States into financial ruin, the totalitarian regime that has sprung up in its wake has created the Long Walk as a means of inspiring a floundering people. The rules are as simple as they are brutal: 50 young men are picked from a raffle from all the many who have applied, supplied with water and sustenance and placed at the starting line. Once the Walk starts, you simply have to remain a steady walking pace over 3mph, but if you fall under that speed for any reason you get a warning – get three warnings and you won’t get a fourth as the accompanying troops will shoot you through the head without question. There is no finish line and there can be only one winner as the Walk only stops when the second to last participant catches a bullet to the brain. It’s not all bad news as you can have a warning erased if you manage to walk a whole mile without incurring another penalty and if you win, you receive a life changing amount of money and a single wish of your choice.
We meet Raymond Garraty as his tearful mother drives him to the starting line and after a few words of gruff encouragement from The Major – a military man who runs the game – the fifty strong group take their first steps towards a destiny that, for 49 of them, will mean certain death.
As the miles pile up, some of the group manage to get a feeling for one another, be it Garraty, the kind hearted Pete McVries, the religious Collie Baker, the smart mouth Hank Olsen, the determined Stebbins and the unbalanced Barkovitch, but as the toll mounts and such issues as fatigue, sleep deprivation, the need to shit and really steep hills ruthlessly cause the heard to be thinned, a battle of wills ensuses. Can the agony of the long walk be soothed by the kind of friendships you can only forge when your back is truly against the wall? And if so, what happens when only friends are left standing? Like the Major says, “There’s one winner and no finish line.”.
Just because The Long Walk showcases some delicious irony by being directed by a man that gave us numerous instalments of the Hunger Games franchise, it doesn’t mean that the Francis Lawrence isn’t willing to turn on the grim when he needs to. In fact, when it comes to wide release blockbusters, I’m pretty sure this gruelling King adaptation may be on of the most aggressive downers we’re likely to experience in 2025 as previous little punches are pulled when tangling with one of the author’s most provocative stories. However, while a steaming serving of dystopian depression is the order of the day, the main reason The Long Walk stands tall among the recent crop of King movies is that while things get mercilessly dark, the movie never forgets to include genuine heart between the blood and the bullets.
Written undoubtedly a metaphor for the young men who were dropped into the grinder of the Vietnam War, the fact that the film is distressingly relevant in a time when young men are struggling to find direction in more extreme beliefs systems, this is a dystopian America that looks worryingly plausible. However, Lawrence paints this “future” as some sort of retro 60s feel as the sparse population writhes in the grip of economic depression and we’re treated to various, near deserted highways interspersed with bleached stores and peeling paint. It’s as striking as it is morbid and it’s the perfect backdrop for such a brutal tale that provides hope and tragedy in equal measure.
For a film that’s essentially a far more sadistic inverse of Stand By Me, the film lives or dies on its cast of characters, but thankfully the clutch of doomed young men easily the match of their younger, body hunting counterparts. Back during Alien: Romulus, the general public at large got a sizable wake up call to the immense talents of David Jonsson as he played the various modes of the benign synthetic, Andy, and as the damaged, but empathy-laden Pete, he manages to impress us even more. Essentially the shining heart of a very bleak film, he manages to highlight the necessity for friendship in a way that doesn’t throw off the oppressive tone by being saccharine. But while Jonsson may be the centre, it’s Cooper Hoffman’s Ray Garraty that we see the Long Walk through and his bond with Pete proves to be the backbone that the other characters cling too. Karate Kid: Legends’ Ben Wang does well as one of King’s typical motormouths and Charlie Plummer also makes a mark as the group’s unhinged outcast, Barkovitch, but it’s impossible to forget the sight of a barking and bellowing Mark Hamill as the tyrannical Major as he delivers his horrible pep-talks.
While Lawrence is well versed in delivering a PG-13 dystopia complete with a body count in The Hunger Games, he understandably ramps things up here, delivering a string of haunting executions as numerous young lives are instantly snuffed out by the merciless rules. Because he doesn’t hold back (the first death is legitimately horrific), and the rules are so clearly defined, it’s easy for us to genuinely fear for these characters even though we know that almost all of them won’t make the distance. Some deaths are shocking, some are sad, but all are an callous waste of young lives that gets ever more desperate due to a string of unfair circumstances. A sequence that sees the mortality rate suddenly skyrocket thanks to the addition of a merciless hill will make you clench your teeth – but matters also swing to the darkly comic side when the film insists on showing us the gross impracticalities of getting a case of the shits when you are walking for your life.
Is it perfect? In its own, harrowing way it’s damn close and it’s certainly the best King adaptation of recent times – but if I’m being brutally honest, some of the deaths are in danger of becoming a bit on the repetitive side (more than one unlucky soul tries to rush for a gun at numerous points). However, for a truly heartbreaking cinematic experience, you’ll have to go a long way to find much better than The Long Walk.
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