Based on a 1979 novel by Stephen King, “The Long Walk” includes both suspense and anxiety to leave the audience on the edge of their seats while indulging in gory and heartfelt moments.
Released on Sept. 12, 2025, the movie follows a teen by the name of Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) as he attempts to navigate a survival game known as The Long Walk. A competition in which the participant who walks the longest receives endless riches and one wish.
Taking place 19 years after a war that caused a great depression across the United States, teens entered a lottery for the competition, with 50 randomly selected.
A participant must maintain at least 3 mph during the contest. If they drop below the required speed limit, they receive three warnings. The first received as they went below the limit, and the other two spaced 10-seconds apart.
With no finish line in sight, many of the characters lost their will to live, attempted to run away from the military-enforced competition, or fought back.
Director of “The Long Walk” Francis Lawrence succeeds at showing the cruelties of the contest by showing that there really can be only one winner, with lots of self-sacrifice involved between the main characters. It can also be seen by his experience in the “Hunger Games” franchise that he understands and is able to show the feeling of loss and fear.
The majority of the movie consisted of lots of dialogue that I found boring, as it slows pacing, with many time skips throughout as dialogue comes to a stand-still.
Although, spanning almost a week and over 300 miles, the time skips were necessary to not bore even more. Instead of solely using dialogue, more integrated scenes involving flashbacks to a character’s backstory would have been a great addition.
Focusing on its strengths, Jonsson’s ability to portray his character was amazing. Partly due to his ability to convey the emotions that I found very realistic, and the sense of human spirit and optimism he invokes throughout the movie until its ending.
The film also addresses how evil bystanders of the game are, as towards the end many citizens were cheering for the remaining participants, hoping to see someone getting eliminated up close. A cruel yet necessary part that I believe was important to get the message across that moral decay had led to the death game being considered a “sporting event”.
To enjoy the movie, viewers must understand that it doesn’t need to be filmed with action-packed parts scene-after-scene to be left satisfied. Instead, satisfaction can be found through understanding the interior and exterior struggles of a character.
