The Long Walk<\/em> doesn\u2019t waste a lot of time table setting; instead, it marches right into the action, parcelling out information about its setting in a dystopian version of the 1960s and trusting that we can keep pace. Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) is one of 50 teenage boys who have won a place in the Long Walk, an annual competition where representatives from each state can win money and whatever they wish if they are the last survivor of the contest. The rules are simple: they cannot stop, and each time they fall below three miles per hour, they\u2019re given a warning by the soldiers following them in tanks, led by the Major (a sunglasses-clad Mark Hamill, evoking Morgan Woodward\u2019s Boss Godfrey in Cool Hand Luke<\/em>). After their third and final warning, they\u2019re shot by the soldiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Long Walk<\/em> is 110 minutes of dialogue punctuated by moments of extremely graphic violence. As the boys walk for miles and miles and days and days, their conversations reveal their characters. Ray makes an immediate connection with Peter McVries (David Jonsson), a scarred sage who seems older than the rest of the teens in spirit. Hank Olson (Ben Wang) cracks sarcastic jokes, while Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot) is eager to make friends. Conversely, Gary Barkovitch (Charlie Plummer) seems like the reality show star who declares both verbally and through his aggressive actions that he isn\u2019t there to socialize. The comparison is fitting, given that the whole thing is broadcast for the nation and attracts roadside viewers desperate to glimpse some of the grisly action. As the days and their feet drag on, their teens\u2019 ranks winnow, and the audience sees practically every bodily fluid imaginable as witnesses to their grueling race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While King was inspired by the horrors of the Vietnam War<\/a> and the draft when he wrote the novel back in the \u201860s, the adaptation feels contemporary in its concerns. JT Mollner\u2019s script takes on a variety of themes, swapping the book\u2019s echoes of Vietnam for the dangers of capitalism, while keeping its musings on totalitarianism, masculinity, and friendship intact. It\u2019s a lot to pack in \u2014 and unpack\u2014 and it would be too much if there weren\u2019t intersections between these ideas. The alternate history that The Long Walk<\/em> is set in is one where America is in economic decline (ahem), and the annual contest is government propaganda, supposedly meant to spur its citizens away from laziness after they witness the industry of the competitors. Boys sign up, desperate both to not be known as the only one not man enough to \u201cvolunteer\u201d and to win the money that would literally change their family\u2019s fortunes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet amidst the challenges of living in this tightly controlled society and going through this hell, connections are forged between the young men \u2014 at least for the ones who are lucky enough to find allies who will both physically and emotionally carry them through the walk\u2019s toughest points. In addition to some small moments of levity, these bonds are what keep The Long Walk <\/em>(both the movie and the characters\u2019 experience on screen) from descending into pure misery. There\u2019s hope in how Ray and Peter become fast friends at the beginning of the ordeal, with something even realer emerging over the miles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawrence is no stranger to this type of story; he directed all but the first film in the Hunger Games<\/em> franchise, which also focuses on a sadistic game where children die to satisfy a cruel government. While those movies maintained their PG-13 ratings to keep their YA audience appeal, he\u2019s off the leash here. Between the extreme violence done to these boys\u2019 bodies and the profanity they speak in the midst of the waking, walking nightmare (and in just being teenagers), The Long Walk<\/em> earns its R rating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet it also earns the audience\u2019s attention. This horror movie is not an easy watch, but it is engaging and well crafted. Lawrence and editor \u200b\u200bMark Yoshikawa keep things moving, balancing the quieter moments with the crazier ones, and it moves far faster than an ambling three miles per hour. All of the young actors are good (as is Judy Greer as Ray\u2019s worried mother), but as Ray and Peter, Hoffman and Jonsson are the movie\u2019s heart. British actor Jonsson\u2019s American accent wobbles a bit, and you\u2019d never know that Hoffman\u2019s Ray is supposed to be from Louisiana. However, their chemistry as these fire-forged friends is what matters, and it\u2019s entirely believable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Long Walk<\/em> is already the third King adaptation of 2025 (The Running Man<\/em> and TV\u2019s IT: Welcome to Derry<\/em> arrive later this fall). What we get with this movie is a cross between the unhinged violence of The Monkey<\/em><\/a> and the sentimentality of The Life of Chuck<\/em><\/a>, and it\u2019s better than both of its predecessors this year. This is consistently compelling work, which is the only thing that ensures you\u2019ll make it through the finish line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-walk2-1024x512.jpg\")
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