The Long Walk (2025)
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Man, 2025 has been pretty awesome for horror. I’ll be the idiot to say that I was unaware that this was even a book, written under Stephen King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman. Once I heard the plot, I knew I had to see this movie, and listen to the audiobook. Ya boy has no time to read, wish I did but I don’t. Anyway how was the the movie?
The Long Walk is about a group of teenage boys that compete in an annual contest called “The Long Walk”. They have to keep a certain walking speed, stay on the road or they will be shot. Basically it is a walk until there is a last man standing. Each walker gets 3 warnings before being shot. I’m not sure this is fully horror, it has horrific elements, but I would more so say this is a SciFi dystopian drama, similar to The Hunger Games. Granted in this the Long Walk is elective, you can choose to do it. The winner gets a ton of money and one wish granted by the Major.
The concept is awesome, let’s just get that out of the way right now. I mean Stephen King is notorious for making immersive worlds with strong characters and big concepts. The acting is what really elevates this movie. Cooper Hoffman, son of late Philip Seymour Hoffman was awesome in this as Ray Garraty. He handles a wide variety of emotions, from fear to anger, to genuine discomfort. David Jonsson plays his friend, Peter McVries. He has a calm coolness and wise nature. The two have terrific chemistry and seem to have a genuine friendship through out the film. The cast is rounded out by a few other notable walkers such as: Garret Wareing as Stebbins, Tut Nyuot as Arthur Baker, and Charlie Plummer as Barkovitch. Mark Hammill puts in a solid performance as the Major, and you might not even realize it is him until you read this or look it up.
I usually touch on special effects in this part, but there isn’t much in the way of effects in this movie. Sure there are injuries and gunshots but this movie really relies on the drama and the interactions with the walkers. The cinematography is really solid as well, and man the movie is just all around good.
If you haven’t watched this movie, you totally should. The acting is top notch, the tension is crazy high and the dialogue is pretty stellar. I listened to the audiobook, and they did stray from the original story a little, especially the ending. I enjoy both endings. I give this a solid A, it is great check it out.
