In The Long Walk, out today, Ray (Cooper Hoffman) volunteers to represent his state in a nationwide contest, where 50 young men gather and see who can walk the longest. The winner gets untold riches, fame, and one wish granted by the totalitarian government. The losers get shot.
The rules are simple: Walk until one person remains. If your speed drops below 3 miles per hour, you get a warning; get more than three warnings, you die. Every hour you walk at speed after that, a warning goes away. Stray from the path and you die.
If this setup feels like a Stephen King novel, that’s because it is. The Long Walk was originally published in 1979, under the name Richard Bachman. Studios have been trying to adapt the film since 1988, as Night of the Living Dead’s George Romero was originally asked to direct. Decades later, Francis Lawrence, known for making most of The Hunger Games films, takes the story in a grounded thriller-like direction, emphasizing the relationship between Ray and his fellow walkers.
Ray starts out his journey trying to make friends. Pete (David Jonsson), a young Black man clearly questioning why they all participate in this government-funded execution exercise, becomes closest to Ray. Jonsson plays him as almost a big brother type, as the glue that holds their brotherhood together. Though he struggles at first with the accent, his performance morphs into a surprisingly moving one, considering the movie he is in. Ben Wang and Tut Nyout also stand out as two other members of Ray’s “Musketeers.” Charlie Plummer does his best with the role of Gary Barkovitch, a troubled young man who is hellbent on torturing those around him despite the immense guilt, but with such an underwritten character, he gets lost on the page.
Leading this pack of young men is The Major (Mark Hamill), who explains early on that the contest builds national morale and sparks agricultural production annually in remembrance of an unexplained war. Hamill is an intimidating flat presence that feels more one-note than anything else. Character actress Judy Greer plays Ray’s mother, the film’s only female presence onscreen. Only she can take the film’s “quintessential flimsy female” role and make it into an endearing performance you can look away from. She isn’t given a lot to do, but steals the scenes she is in.
One thing Lawrence does that I appreciate is that he understands that this story lives or dies by the relationships the contestants develop with each other and the audience. Ray and Pete form the film’s core relationship, and it’s the best thing about the story. Hoffman and Jonnson’s chemistry is easy and palpable.
There are moments where Ray and his comrades are walking in a line together, shooting the shit, that feel like a scene out of Stand By Me, only the bodies that they eventually see are their own. Those moments make up for story issues in the third act. When you have to show 50 deaths in such a short amount of time, it’s hard not to make each killing feel repetitive. Not every death can mean something with this many players, and because there is only one winner, the exercise fucks with the film’s pacing. For King diehards, The Long Walk’s ending is completely different from the original story. I won’t spoil the initial change they made, but it’s one I agree with, even if the execution fell flat. The final five minutes feel rushed, and the script’s failure to provide better backstories for two of its main characters detracts from any changes made.
While The Long Walk is a cohesive and well-done example of a grounded dystopian story, I can’t help but wonder if this kind of film is played out for Francis Lawrence. At the time of publication, he is currently filming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, his fifth film in the franchise. The Long Walk is being called the “male” Hunger Games, and while I’m all for a director dominating a genre, is there anything said in this film that he hasn’t said already?
It is worth noting that in The Long Walk, young men are shot at and killed for 108 minutes. In one scene, Roman Griffin Davis is shot in the head, and the camera doesn’t cut away. You see everything. For some, especially after the highly viewed killing of Charlie Kirk this week, this will be traumatizing. For others, just the visualization of young men being killed by gun violence will recall yet another school shooting in Colorado. At a time when media can retraumatize us, it’s okay to pause and evaluate if a film is for you. The original story is said to capture anti-Vietnam War sentiment. This adaptation clearly questions violence against young people in all forms: physical, economic, and psychological. It will be interesting to look back at it in even a few years and see what kind of impact it made on both the box office and our society, because there’s no denying how relevant this film is. Here’s hoping it at least gets us thinking in the right direction.
The Long Walk is now playing in theaters. Watch the trailer below.
