The Long Walk, 2025.
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Starring Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.
SYNOPSIS:
A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as “The Long Walk,” where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.
Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence is no stranger to cinematic life-or-death endurance tests, and turns to the likeminded literary inspiration of Stephen King for The Long Walk, a blistering (pun intended) exercise in harrowing storytelling, kept upright by a stunning performance from David Jonsson.
Not far behind him in the pacing and acting stakes is Cooper Hoffman (Liquorice Pizza), who’s our primary companion on this journey. As Raymond Garraty, or contestant #47, we enter this story through his eyes. Dropped off at the start line by his distraught mother (the perennially excellent Judy Greer), his affable nature finds him making friends with those who’ll be at the head of the pack for the film; Jonsson’s Peter McVries #23, Ben Wang’s Hank Olsen #46, and Tut Nyuot’s Arthur Baker #6.
If they are to act as this film’s Stand by Me quartet, then you also get Garret Wareing’s cold-hearted Stebbins #38 and Charlie Plummer’s obnoxious Gary Barkovitch #5 as the archetypal King protagonists, as-well-as plenty of other peripheral numbers who act as The Long Walk’s red jackets.
How the walkers are eliminated, all under instruction from Mark Hamill’s gruff, somewhat intentionally cartoonish Major, is the film’s initial hook. The sight of a broken ankle or an undone shoelace carries exactly the same level of dread because of the burgeoning sense of doom that hangs over the head of each character. Some die from cramp, some from crap, but whatever the cause, Lawrence ensures that they are all punctuated in a way that makes the audience feel uneasy. Like the metronomic trudging of the group, sitting through this is such an emotionally exhausting up-and-down process to undertake.
However, as the miles stack up, The Long Walk becomes less interested in shocking its audience with inventive kills, instead focusing on making you care about these dead men walking as the numbers dwindle. Even those characters you’ve held disdain for during the first few hundred miles are fleshed out in order to throw off your moral compass.
Structured in a way that means the narrative focus very rarely shifts from the young men marching towards the camera, aside from a couple of brief flashbacks, the frame is dominated by Hoffman and Jonsson, who carry each other and the film towards a gruelling conclusion. The former is likeable from the first few steps. An everyman who’s rooted for by the few stragglers who morbidly line the road, Hoffman imbues him with this underlying ambiguity that helps to serve both the motivation of the character, and also plays brilliantly into making you wonder how far he’d truly go.
That’s all tied up in his believable comradery with Jonsson, who undoubtedly owns the film, and in doing so delivers one of the year’s most affecting performances. He commands your attention with a turn of humour, intrigue and overriding empathy. The fact that the final twenty minutes is as agonising and moving as it is, can be laid firmly at the bruised and battered feet of this truly captivating young actor.
As with all the best horror, the socio-political parallels are clear for all to see, but Lawrence and screenwriter JT Mollner ensure that this isn’t too heavy-handed, striking the perfect balance between a mirror-to-the-world commentary, and having it simply be the backdrop upon which their grim drama can play out. Special mention too for Jeremiah Fraites’ score, which hits all of the right notes in step with the film’s increasing emotional beats.
A top-tier Stephen King adaptation, The Long Walk strides out of the pack to become one of 2025’s biggest surprises, and drags with it a Stand By Me-level performance from David Jonsson.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★/ Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Rodgers – Follow me on Twitter
