Don Reviews "The Long Walk"

What would you do for money?  For me, it literally comes down to the task (would I have to literally put my life on the line) and the amount of offered. Director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) addresses this with his latest film (and the third of four Stephen King adaptations of 2025) with The Long Walk.

Taking place in the US after an undisclosed war, the economy has crashed.  Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) enters a contest (and is selected to) where one young man from each state gathers for an annual competition known as “The Long Walk” where they literally walk until one of them is left standing to win a huge financial prize and one wish of their choice.  The catch is that if a walker’s pace falls below three miles per hour, they get up to three warnings before getting their “ticket,” which involves a bullet; the only saving grace is to go three hours without a warning to reset the warning count.  As the walk progresses, secrets and motivations are revealed, alliances are created, and the nature of the competition wears on the young men on every level.

I was hugely impressed by the cast here, with so many different personalities making a great film even better.  Their chemistry is very good with each of them getting their moments to enhance the story that much more.  Even though Hoffman and David Jonsson are really the two main characters, my shout-out has to go to Ben Wang as Hank Olson, whose really shines as that kid you learn to fall in love with have to root for.  

Talking about Hamill’s performance specifically, this is a different side of his I have not seen very often.  He is so good here that I honestly believe that if you didn’t know it was him as “The Major,” you may not have even known until the end credit rolls.  Seeing the different kinds of roles that he has played as of late (and this is HIS second Steven King adaptation this year after The Life of Chuck), I was very impressed here.

I Do need to warn you that this film is very dark, not pulling any punches and really shows realism in the story it portrays.  In a competition where there are no breaks for ANY reason, The Long Walk shows what the human body can experience versus how strong the human spirit can be.  As it went on, I really started to care for so many of the characters, and when something happens to one of them, it was like a gut punch.  With Lawrence at the helm, I could see why he was chosen, given his work with The Hunger Games, which this film has some similarities with alongside a dash of Stand by Me, which works well.

There have been many films made off adaptations of novels by Stephen King, but only a few that achieve icon status like The Shining, Carrie, and The Shawshank Redemption.  Even though The Long Walk is very gritty, there is really not much here that I did not like.  It is so good that it gets my “coveted” full-price rating in the theaters recommendation, and there is a chance that it may make my Top Ten Films of the Year and also has a chance to be considered one of those great films based on King’s works.