Movie Review: ‘The Long Walk’

Related article: 19 Best Stephen King Movie Adaptations in Honor of ‘The Long Walk’

Initial Thoughts

(L to R) Joshua Odjick as Parker, Jordan Gonzalez as Harkness, David Jonsson as McVries, Cooper Hoffman as Garraty, and Charlie Plummer as Barkovitch in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo Credit: Murray Close/Lionsgate.

Stephen King began writing ‘The Long Walk’ in 1966, at the age of 19, while a student at the University of Maine, and eventually published it 13 years later under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Rediscovered after his Bachman cover was blown in 1984, ‘The Long Walk’ has since been acclaimed as one of King’s finest early novels and a frightening depiction of a totalitarian future in which citizens are mere fodder for the regime (at the time King wrote it, it was an allegory for the Vietnam War).

A film version has long been in development, but has now finally arrived from director Francis Lawrence, who has been traversing similar territory with his adaptations of the ‘Hunger Games’ books (which owe a clear debt to this and King’s other early dystopian work, ‘The Running Man’). We’re pleased to report that ‘The Long Walk’ is easily one of the finest King-based films ever, capturing the harrowing intensity of the narrative as well as the camaraderie that develops between its characters, especially the warm friendship between its two leads that gives the story a powerful emotional gut punch.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Mark Hamill as The Major and Director Francis Lawrence in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo Credit: Murray Close.

At some point in the indeterminate (but not too distant) future, the United States has been taken over by a totalitarian regime that annually stages a contest called the Long Walk, in which 50 young men must walk from Maine to Florida without stopping. If you stop for any reason or fall below the required pace of three miles per hour, you are given a warning. If you reach three warnings and do not resume walking at the correct speed, you are executed. The last walker alive wins, and is given a lifetime of freedom, riches, and opportunities.

‘The Long Walk’ focuses in particular on two of the boys thrust into this hellish marathon: Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter McVries (David Jonsson), who quickly forge a friendship that McVries in particular extends to a number of the other contestants. Even as others on the Walk try to sabotage them, and despite the malevolent presence of the Major (Mark Hamill), the mysterious figurehead who presides over the Walk, a group of the boys manage to keep each other going – all while the Walk takes a horrific and increasingly fatal physical toll.

In theory, ‘The Long Walk’ might not work onscreen, given the straightforward nature of the narrative and the ever-tightening if repetitive cycle of death as more and more contestants succumb to their doom. But Lawrence and screenwriter JT Mollner (‘Strange Darling’) keep the focus squarely on the characters, particularly Garraty and McVries, as we learn more about them and watch them turn from frightened, uncertain pawns into something resembling, of all things, a resistance.

Roman Griffin Davis as Curly in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo: Murray Close.

It’s the human element that powers ‘The Long Walk,’ although the horror of the situation is never far away. And while we don’t gain very much knowledge about this version of the U.S., the bleak, decrepit, empty homes and storefronts we see along the way – along with the scattered, hollow-eyed observers on the side of the road – tell us all we need to know about a dying nation ruled by cruelty and distraction. Lawrence and Mollner make some cosmetic changes to the material – and alter the book’s ambiguous ending in a way that we’re not sure is totally successful – but capture the tone of King’s work perfectly.

While some of Lawrence’s movies have left us cold in the past – particularly the later ‘Hunger Games’ entries – ‘The Long Walk’ is suffused with a sense of sadness and loss, coupled with the utter brutality of the regime and the way it mercilessly dispatches the walkers who can’t go the distance. But there’s also the warmth of friends and the bond of a shared experience, brought achingly to life by the cast.

Cast and Performances

(L to R) Cooper Hoffman as Garraty and David Jonsson as McVries in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo Credit: Murray Close.

David Jonsson has been on viewers’ radars thanks primarily to his main role on ‘Industry’ and his standout work as the android Andy in last year’s ‘Alien: Romulus,’ but he comes fully into his own here as McVries. His mix of optimism, cynicism, courage, and bravado makes the character incredibly appealing and watchable, and his performance is moving enough to be awards-worthy down the line.

Cooper Hoffman has only a handful of credits since making his debut in 2021’s ‘Licorice Pizza,’ but ‘The Long Walk’ may also represent his finest work so far. Garraty is the critical character in the sense that he’s the protagonist who changes the most over the course of the Walk – prodded along by McVries. But his naturalism as Garraty and the chemistry that he and Jonsson share is the engine of the story.

The rest of the cast, almost to a man, step up even when they have little more than an agonizing death scene. But standouts include Garrett Wareing as the villainous Stebbins, Charlie Plummer as the dissolute Barkovich, Ben Wang as the irritating (but heartbreaking) Hank Olson, and Joshua Odjick as the noble Collie Parker. Judy Greer is excellent in her relatively small screen time as Garraty’s mom, and while we appreciate Mark Hamill showing up in his second King movie of the year (after ‘The Life of Chuck’), we wish his work as the Major was a bit more subdued in its menace than over-the-top.

Final Thoughts

Mark Hamill at The Major in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo: Lionsgate.

Stephen King is having a banner year on screen: with the acidic ‘The Monkey’ and the excellent ‘The Life of Chuck’ already released and Edgar Wright’s version of ‘The Running Man’ due out in November, ‘The Long Walk’ will nevertheless be difficult to beat. It may well be one of the best movies of 2025, in addition to being possibly the best King adaptation of the year.

Francis Lawrence and JT Mollner have not forgotten that King’s work is not just about the scares or the premise, but the people. ‘The Long Walk’ poignantly chronicles how human beings can find hope and comfort in each other in the darkest of circumstances, a theme that’s even more bracing and timely now as the United States slips terrifyingly toward the kind of scenario postulated in the film. Even as it doesn’t provide answers, it does offer a glimpse of a light in the darkness – and what people will endure to keep walking toward that light.

‘The Long Walk’ receives a score of 90 out of 100.

Judy Greer as Ginny Garraty in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo Credit: Murray Close/Lionsgate.

What is the plot of ‘The Long Walk’?

In a dystopian United States ruled by a totalitarian regime, a group of young men enter an annual walking contest in which they must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour or risk execution. The contest ends when only one walker remains alive.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Long Walk’?

• Cooper Hoffman as Raymond Garraty
• David Jonsson as Peter McVries
• Garrett Wareing as Stebbins
• Joshua Odjick as Collie Parker
• Tut Nyuot as Arthur Baker
• Charlie Plummer as Gary Barkovitch
• Ben Wang as Hank Olson
• Roman Griffin Davis as Thomas Curley
• Judy Greer as Mrs. Garraty
• Josh Hamilton as Mr. Garraty
• Mark Hamill as The Major

‘The Long Walk’ opens in theaters on September 12th.

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