[FILM REVIEW] THE LONG WALK Review (2025)
Summary: A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as “The Long Walk,” in which they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.
Year: 2025
Cinema Release Dates: 11th September 2025 (Australia), 11th September 2025 (Thailand), 12th September 2025 (UK), 12th September 2025 (USA)
VOD Release Dates: TBA
Country: USA
Director: Francis Lawrence
Screenwriter: JT Mollner
Cast: Samuel Clark (Tressler #24), Roman Griffin Davis (Curley #7), Noah de Mel (Ewing #1), Jack Giffin (Ronald #45), Jordan Gonzalez (Richard Harkness #49), Judy Greer (Mrs. Ginnie Garraty), Mark Hamill (The Major), Josh Hamilton (Mr. William Garraty), Cooper Hoffman (Raymond Garrarty #47), David Jonsson (Peter McVries #23), Keenan Lehmann (Larson #14), Thamela Mpumlwana (Pearson #8), Dale Neri (Percy Grimes #31), Tut Nyuot (Arthur Baker #6), Emmanuel Oderemi (Zuck #50), Joshua Odjick (Collie Parker #48), Charlie Plummer (Gary Barkovitch #05), Teagan Stark (Patrick Smith #4), Garrett Wareing (Stebbins #38), Ben Wang (Hank Olson #46), Daymon Wrightly (Rank #19)
Running Time: 94 minutes
Classification: MA15+ (Australia), 18 (Thailand), 15 (UK), R (USA)
OUR THE LONG WALK REVIEWS
David Griffiths and Kyle McGrath’s The Long Walk Review
When someone mentions films based on the works of Stephen King normally your mind goes straight to the classic horror films – It, Carrie, Pet Semetary etc. People seem to forget that King’s work has also been responsible for cinematic masterpieces like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Now another film need to be added to that second list because The Long Walk is sheer cinematic brilliance.
As I went into The Long Walk I was wondering how this could ever be a ‘watchable’ film. The media screening was held weeks before the trailer had even surfaced and having read King’s original novel (which was released under his pseudonym Richard Bachman) I knew that the general plot was a group of young men walking along a road until they died. How do you make that into a film that wouldn’t have the audience drifting off within an hour.
Actually the plot does have a little more to it than that. Set in a dystopian future an event has plummeted the world into poverty and in a bid to lift the spirits of the general public The Major (Mark Hamill – Star Wars) runs what is called The Long Walk.
This televised event sees volunteers agree to go on the walk and if they fail to keep to moving a three miles per hour they receive a warning. Earn three warnings and you are executed by bullet right there on the spot. Try to run off once the walk has started and again you will be executed. You then walk until there is only one person left and that person walks away with a huge cash prize.
The film follows one of the competitors in this year’s walk, Raymond ‘Ray’ Garraty #47 (Cooper Hoffman – Saturday Night), who despite the pleas from his mother Ginnie (Judy Greer – Jurassic World) has signed up for the barbaric practice.
As the walk begins Ray quickly bonds with fellow walkers like Peter McVries #23 (David Jonsson – Deep State) and Hank Olson #46 (Ben Wang – Mean Girls) while he learns that there are also ‘bad’ walkers, like Gary Barkovitch #5 (Charlie Plummer – Lean On Pete), who need to be avoided.
As the walk goes on the walkers begin to learn more about each other including the dark secret of why Ray signed up for the walk in the first place.
While cinematographer Jo Willems (Hard Candy) uses the roadside and road to the dark and foreboding world that the characters call home screenwriter JT Mollner (Strange Darling) uses King’s original source material to develop characters and dialogue that will draw the audience into this plot with such intrigue that it lifts the film far beyond being just a ‘walking’ film.
At the same time director Franis Lawrence (Constantine) brings everything together and creates a film that totally captivates its audience. Lawrence is no stranger to ‘survivalist cinema’ having carried much of the heavy load with The Hunger Games franchise. What he can’t do here is rely on the action of the film to keep the audience engaged like he did with that franchise – instead here he lets Mollner’s screenplay come to the fore in such a way that you will find yourself barracking for some of the characters at hand here.
Together the work of Lawrence, Mollner and Willems creates an atmosphere within the film that keeps the audience heightened throughout. As an audience member whenever one of the guards yells out a warning or begins a countdown you find your heart beating almost out of your chest.
The power of Mollner’s screenplay is further enhanced by the actors delivering his dialogue. Grouped together with his performance in Saturday Night Cooper Hoffman’s performance here is engaging with a gentleness that is needed to make him ‘likable.’ Hoffman is not only showing the same acting brilliance that his father carried throughout his career but is now revealing himself to be one of the best young actors in Hollywood at the moment.
Likewise, Charlie Plummer has shown in films like Words On Bathroom Walls and Lean On Pete that he is a brilliant young actor and here he once again shines with a performance where despite being one of the villains of the piece he becomes one of the most memorable characters.
The Long Walk is not always an easy watch, in fact at times it is gruelling, but it is well worth it. The brilliantly written screenplay is brought alive by a talented young cast and makes this not only a must see but one of the best thrillers you will see this year.
David’s rating Out Of 5
Laziness! Lethargy! Apathy! These are the dragons which must be slayed to bring back prosperity. In the wake of a devastating war the United States lays in ruins. Famine and a great depression leaves the entire country desperate and in need of motivation. A solution is reached with ‘The Long Walk’.
An annual voluntary contest where 50 young men are drawn via lottery to embark on a hike across the wasteland. The rules are simple enough, walk maintaining a speed greater than 3 mi/h (4.8 km/h) until you are the only contestant left standing. However disqualification comes via a carbine rifle shooting a bullet to the head! Despite this horror things are so bad every eligible male signs up anyway. Lads like the local Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), the friendly Peter McVries (David Jonsson) or the prepared Hank Olson (Ben Wang).
Under the watchful eye of ‘The Major’ (Mark Hamill), the personification of this dystopia, the men walk endlessly. The promise of untold riches and the guns pointed at them being their only motivations. There may be clashes in personalities and philosophy but they are all in this together. Any friendships made are destined to end in violence. There is no finish line nor are there any winners when all is said and done…
Written in 1979 Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’ (written under his pseudonym Richard Bachman) was a horror of another kind. It pre-dated other dystopian ‘Battle Royal’-like stories such as ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Squid Game’ or ‘Battle Royale’ itself by several decades. It’s been a long time coming with several filmmakers attempting to bring the unconventional story to the big screen. Yet finally now director Francis Lawrence (director of The Hunger Games sequels) and screenwriter JT Mollner achieve where so many others failed.
My brother and I have actually been thinking for some time that ‘The Long Walk’ was ripe for adaptation. A simple, low budget story but one full of tension and drama. There are no real action sequences or spectacle to speak of just the suspenseful never-ending trek itself. Honestly how to shoot such a film isn’t so important as how it is written.
Which is why I think JT Mollner deserves much of the credit for how well ‘The Long Walk’ works on screen. Mollner last year impressed me with the surprising psychological thriller ‘Strange Darling’. Here he brings along that same knack for interesting dialogue from believable characters. The stories of the contenders are interesting, their perspectives and outlooks on life, the competition, The Major, friendship and eachother is varied. ‘The Long Walk’ is anything but a traditionally structured drama and Mollner’s pacing and character work keeps us on the edge of our seats.
The direction of The Long Walk is also on point. Lawrence’s handling of the violence in ‘The Hunger Games’ sequels while limited to a PG-13 rating I found was far superior to that of the original film. However for this particular game of death he is under no such restrictions. From the first gunshot to the last the film is a brutal, unrelenting and violent journey.
Consistently moving there is no escape from this test of endurance. It would have been easy to rely on flashbacks to give breaks to the audience from The Walk itself, wisely however the film avoids that. Bringing us in closer to the individuals fighting for their lives as if we were walking alongside them ourselves.
Cooper Hoffman is quickly living up to the legacy of his late father Philip Seymour Hoffman. As the film’s protagonist Garraty we see the world through his eyes not only his morality but also his rage. To combat this is the disarming nature of McVries who acts as the heart of the film and a way to hold onto what’s important in a world gone mad. Played wonderfully by David Jonsson who was excellent in the recent Alien: Romulus (2024) as ‘Andy the Android’.
The ensemble cast are all incredible and it’s a fascinating thing seeing these young men’s relationships evolve. All but one really as Mark Hamill’s performance as ‘The Major’ feels tonally like something from a very different film. He’s not bad in the part really, he just plays this villain as hammily as you would expect from an actor known for his voice over performances as Batman’s arch enemy, The Joker. At odds with the rest of the cast including Judy Greer, herself largely known as a comedic actress, but here is believably heartbreaking as a mother seeing her son in a competition with a 95% kill rate!
The movie has one or two rough edges and I can’t say I’m a fan of the more crowd pleasing finale verses that of the novel. But this is one of the best Stephen King adaptations of recent memory. The cast is excellent (mostly), the script is intriguing and the direction carries it over the finish line. It’ll be fascinating to see where things stand later in the year after the release of Edgar Wright’s ‘The Running Man’. Where we will find which Stephen King/Richard Bachman violent-reality-television-game-show-film is superior!
Kyles rating Out Of 5
Average Subculture rating Out Of 5
Other Subculture Entertainment The Long Walk Reviews
You can also read our review of The Long Walk that appeared in The Phuket News right here – https://www.thephuketnews.com/the-long-walk-goes-the-distance-97635.php
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