In a grim and oppressive dystopian future, the United States is ruled by a brutal totalitarian regime. Its most chilling display of control is the annual event known as The Long Walk. A group of teenage boys are conscripted into a brutal, televised endurance contest. The rules are as simple as they are merciless: maintain a walking speed of at least three miles per hour or face execution by the armed soldiers shadowing the route. The march continues without pause until only one walker remains alive.
Director Francis Lawrence — best known for guiding The Hunger Games saga — proves a masterful choice for adapting Stephen King’s material. The Long Walk, one of King’s earliest works, was first published in 1979 under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. After decades of failed attempts by other filmmakers, the story has finally reached the screen, and Lawrence’s take could well be one of the strongest King adaptations yet.
The film’s emotional core lies in the performances of Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and breakout star of Licorice Pizza) and BAFTA Rising Star winner David Jonsson. Hoffman plays Ray Garraty, an apparently ordinary boy who strikes up an uneasy but deepening friendship with Jonsson’s Peter McVries, a sharp, sardonic figure who often seems older and wiser than his years. Their evolving bond offers a flicker of humanity against the cruelty of the march, grounding the film in something more tender than its grim premise might suggest.
The Walk itself is portrayed as both physical and psychological torment: mile after mile of tarmac results in a powerful struggle against tiredness, hunger and hopelessness. Lawrence refuses to cut away from the most shocking aspect of the gruelling task at hand, and it’s this aspect that makes the ordeal feel so real.
Mark Hamill, in a rare villainous turn, is magnetic as the Major, the Walk’s sunglasses-clad overseer. Around him, a strong supporting cast — including Garrett Wareing, Charlie Plummer, and Ben Wang — ensure the ensemble never falters, each leaving a mark despite the inevitability of their fates.
King conceived The Long Walk as an allegory for the Vietnam War, and its critique of wasted youth still lands with devastating force. But in 2025 it feels newly urgent, reflecting a world addicted to voyeurism, reality television and the commodification of suffering. Some of the messaging may lack subtlety, but that bluntness is exactly what gives the film its power — a directness that lingers long after the credits roll.
Bleak, unflinching, and unexpectedly moving, The Long Walk is both a faithful King adaptation and one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences in years. Not for the faint of heart — but easily one of the best films of 2025 so far.
