The Long Walk (2025)

“May God reward your bravery.”

2025’s The Long Walk, based upon the 1979 Stephen King novel of the same name, isn’t a bad film. It isn’t that good, either. Its premise is somewhat convoluted. A group of fifty boys, one from each state, is selected to participate in a walk that starts somewhere near the Canadian border and continues until only one boy remains. If a boy fails to keep the recommended pace, he is given a warning. On the third time that he fails, he gets his ticket…..he gets killed. If he goes off of the path for too long, he gets killed. If he shows any type of defiance, he is severely warned and then killed if he doesn’t change his tune. The final boy wins a large cash prize and is granted one wish. This is meant to inspire the people in the United States which is currently in a severe depression following another civil war. Sounds sort of silly, right? Well, it is, at least to me.

The crazy thing is that the movie isn’t that bad thanks to the simply amazing performances of Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. They play the two primary protagonists in the film, Ray and Pete, respectively. They manage to make a paper-thin plot that is spread out over one hundred plus grueling minutes somewhat interesting. There’s also some great supporting work by Tut Nyot, Garrett Wareing, Charlie Plummer, and Ben Wang. The only real weak performance in the film is that of Mark Hamill, initially unrecognizable as the Major, the grouchy antagonist of the film. I just don’t buy Hamill’s “tough guy” persona in the film. He was miscast in my opinion.

The film is obviously very bleak and depressing, but it misses the heart of other King adaptations like Stand By Me and the sheer agony of movies like The Mist. Sure, there’s the token foul mouths of youngsters that you come to expect in works based upon King’s stories and quite a bit of violence as well, but something is missing, and that something is a solid plot. Aside from some excellent (at times) cinematography and the great performances of the main cast, there’s not a lot to like about this film. Sometimes I believe that recent adaptations of King’s work have been given a pass based upon King’s longevity and the popularity of his books and many of the film adaptations of his work. Maybe that’s just me.

Is The Long Walk worth a look? Yes, especially to see the performance of Jonsson. Otherwise, you aren’t really missing anything with this King adaptation.

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