Studio:   Lionsgate
Director: Francis Lawrence
Writer:   JT Mollner
Producer: Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Francis Lawrence, Cameron MacConomy
Stars:    Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, Mark Hamill

Review Score:

Summary:

In a dystopian America, 50 young men compete in a walking marathon where they must maintain a certain speed or be executed until only one participant remains.

Synopsis:

19 years after a great war devastated the country, America prepares for its annual “Long Walk,” a marathon in which 50 young men, each representing their home state, must maintain a speed of three miles per hour along a designated route. Participants who fail to maintain the required speed or who deviate from the path receive a warning, but after three warnings, they are executed. The last person standing will receive great riches and be granted a wish.

Mrs. Ginnie Garraty tearfully drops off her son Raymond, who was selected as his state’s representative via lottery, at the starting point. Ray begins a friendship with fellow participant Peter McVries. Ray and Peter meet other walkers including Stebbins, Arthur Baker, Gary Barkovitch, Hank Olson, Richard Harkness, Collie Parker, and Curley White.

“The Major,” a military commander who oversees the event from a pace jeep, announces the rules while praising the participants for helping inspire a higher work ethic as rebuilding efforts continue amid an impoverished economy. The Long Walk begins.

MILE 5

Stebbins receives one of the first warnings for falling behind. Gary receives three warnings for stopping to tie his boots.

MILE 7

As their bond continues to grow, Ray tells Peter and Arthur how he believes even though they are volunteers, no one truly has a choice to be in the Long Walk because everyone is so financially desperate. Richard reveals he plans to write a book about the Long Walk from an insider’s perspective.

A sudden leg cramp causes Curley to get a warning. Ray supports Curley so he can continue, but Curley’s cramps disable him and he is killed. Curley’s death shocks Ray and Peter.

MILE 17

Ray, Peter, Arthur, and Hank form a friendly foursome. A participant named Ewing suffers a seizure that immobilizes him, so soldiers in pace vehicles execute him.

MILE 25

Gary emerges as a self-centered bully when his harassment of a boy named Rank results in Rank falling to the ground and getting shot. The others vilify Gary for causing Rank’s death. Suffering from diarrhea, a teen named Ronald is also executed for failing to maintain the required speed.

MILE 35

Ray receives a warning when he starts dozing during a nighttime stretch of road. Ray receives two more warnings, but Peter helps him maintain his pace, which frustrates Ray as he accuses Peter of being insincere about assisting him.

Everyone is forced to move at a higher speed when the road turns into an incline. Multiple walkers are shot for being unable to get over the hill. To maintain the pace, Peter helps Ray once again, which compels Ray to apologize for misdirecting his anger at Peter earlier.

MILE 67

After badly twisting his ankle, Richard is shot in front of two small boys observing the walk from their bicycles. Gary threatens Peter following a verbal altercation between the two of them. Once they pass the 100th mile, participant Percy Grimes tries to escape the event and is shot while fleeing.

MILE 103

The walkers discuss what they would choose for their wish if they win. Peter says he would wish for future Long Walks to have two winners so friends like he and Ray could survive together. Ray’s musings about the country’s dire state of affairs related to the event inspire others to shout curses at The Major as an act of rebellion against the Long Walk.

MILE 144

On the third day, Ray confides in Peter that his father William always sought to inspire him by showing Ray books, culture, and artworks that were banned by the country after the war. Soldiers took William out of the Garraty house at gunpoint, but when The Major gave him an opportunity to renounce his supposed crimes, William stood defiant so he could be a proud example for his son. The Major then executed him.

Ray continues by saying if he wins, he will ask for one of the soldiers’ carbine rifles so he can kill The Major with it. Peter implores Ray to not be motivated by vengeance.

MILE 170

Participant Patrick Smith’s sudden breakdown causes him to get caught under a pace tank’s treads. He is subsequently shot along with a young man named Tressler.

MILE 201

Physically and mentally exhausted, Hank concedes by attempting to rush at the soldiers. Hank is shot in the stomach and left to bleed out as a warning to others to not charge the guards.

MILE 209

With the Long Walk on its fourth day, Collie tells the remaining participants that Hank had a wife named Clementine. Collie, Ray, Peter, Arthur, and Stebbins make a pact to do something for Hank’s widow if they win.

Feeling isolated and also claiming remorse for his role in Rank’s death, Gary tries endearing himself to Ray. Despite Ray’s placating assurances, Gary’s mind breaks, causing him to stab himself in the neck in a sudden suicide.

MILE 278

Now on the fifth day of the Long Walk and with just he, Peter, Arthur, Stebbins, and Collie remaining, Ray ditches his shoes after their soles blow out. Feeling regretful about participating in the event after seeing his emotional mother Ginnie spectating from a sidewalk, Ray rushes toward her to apologize. Fearful for his possible execution, Ginnie and Peter both force Ray to regain his composure and continue.

Peter again tries motivating Ray by telling him how his life was filled with fighting until he realized he needed light more than darkness. Peter adds that if Ray wins, he should choose love over revenge and return home to his mother.

MILE 306

Stebbins proposes no longer assisting anyone who is lagging now that the walk seems close to ending. Ray agrees that Peter should stop risking his own life to keep saving him.

Collie suddenly grabs a rifle from a soldier. Collie kills one of the guards before getting wounded and then shooting himself.

MILE 324

Arthur suffers a hemorrhage that causes severe bleeding. Knowing he cannot continue, Arthur gives Ray and Peter a necklace to give to his grandmother. Ray and Peter acknowledge Arthur as a friend before he gives up and is shot.

MILE 326

Stebbins confesses that he is a bastard son of The Major, who reportedly has dozens of children. Stebbins reveals his wish was going to be for an invite to his father’s home, but he gives up and allows himself to be executed.

MILE 331

As fans begin to gather for the walk’s impending conclusion, Peter tries giving up after telling Ray he should win for his mother. Ray convinces Peter to get up and continue, adding that he considers Peter to be his brother.

Ray shocks Peter by deliberately falling behind to get shot. Recognizing Peter as having the more positive outlook for the future, Ray uses his dying words to say, “I can’t see it, but you can” and tells Peter he loves him before he is killed.

Peter breaks down in tears while the crowd celebrates him as the Long Walk’s winner. For his wish, Peter asks for a carbine, which he then points at The Major. Although The Major advises Peter not to throw away the prize money, Peter says, “This is for Ray” and shoots him dead.

Review:

When “The Handmaid’s Tale” debuted on Hulu in 2017, its dystopian setting, where America’s response to a second civil war resulted in a revolution based on subjugating women in the name of religious righteousness, felt creatively compelling, chilling, but also unfathomable. No way would a wealthy country willingly allow societal order to be overthrown simply so men could maintain power while women were reduced to slave labor or abused as pieces of property. Then by the time the series concluded in 2025, the only thing unbelievable about the premise was that the show hadn’t already been used as a blueprint for official policy to implement alongside an annual Purge.

Had someone’s first encounter with “The Long Walk” been in 1979 when Stephen King first published the novel under his infamous pseudonym Richard Bachman, its plot might also have been perceived as too far removed from reality to be taken seriously. Finally adapted as a film in 2025, however, Stephen King instead seems as prescient as Margaret Atwood in being able to envision a horrifying scenario that once appeared improbable, but now seems frighteningly possible, and even more apt as allegory.

Like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Long Walk” takes place in a near-future America ravaged by a devastating war. 19 years into rebuilding, the economy remains in shambles, keeping more families in poverty than ever before.

As a means of motivating a higher work ethic, the country conducts an annual “Long Walk,” a marathon where 50 young men, one for each state, must maintain a consistent speed of three miles per hour or else they are executed. Participants are supposedly seen as inspirations to a suffering lower class that follows the event as fans. The last teenager left alive then wins massive riches as well as one wish.

Richard Bachman wasn’t confirmed to be Stephen King until 1985. Perhaps because King had only been publishing novels for about 10 years at that point, the signs may not have been as obvious that the two authors are one and the same. With hindsight bringing more familiarity though, it’s easier to see King’s signature style all over the fiction.

The audience’s main anchor is Raymond Garraty, essentially an everyman stand-in or average good guy archetype from the same mold as Bill Denbrough or Gordie Lachance. Since his dad’s death, Ray has seen his mother struggle, so he’s desperate to bring her monetary relief that might help them heal. His pessimistic outlook gets balanced by Peter, whose personable demeanor in spite of living a life of adversity builds a fast friendship with Ray. Because no ensemble of King characters could ever be complete without a bully whose last name has sharp syllables, Gary Barkovitch fills the role of an insecure loner dedicated to making everyone around him miserable. Others include a glasses-wearing nerd keeping a journal so he can write a book about the Long Walk as well as a motormouth whose genial goofiness provides comic relief.

With visuals featuring young men bonding while walking and talking along a country road, “The Long Walk” draws considerable comparisons to “Stand by Me.” There’s even a scene where a couple of walkers sing “My Darling Clementine” like it’s the theme to “Have Gun – Will Travel.”

Yet “The Long Walk” muses about the transition from childhood into adulthood (the participants are mentioned as been teens even though they’re played by actors born in the 1990s) from the perspective of a harsher reality than what Gordie’s companions confronted. As the story continues, the suspense of who might win and in what manner the rest will die increasingly makes more room for the poignant drama behind why each person is participating, how the walk will affect them, and where their breaking points might be. Through onscreen surrogates, the audience encounters plentiful thrills as well as thoughtful themes in what becomes a well-balanced emotional endeavor from director Francis Lawrence and screenwriter JT Mollner.

The caveat that comes with handling so many different elements is “The Long Walk” cuts occasional corners, and playing loose with the timeline sometimes results in noticeable narrative hiccups. Because I wrote down each person’s race number for a detailed synopsis, at least once I noticed a bullhorn shouting a warning at a participant who was already dead. Curiously, not all scene breaks are denoted by text indicating the current mile marker, which can similarly result in momentary confusion. One such sequence starts at “Mile 67.” There’s no clear indication of a significant passage of time, yet that scene then cuts somewhat abruptly to the 100th mile, making it difficult to see how everyone advanced 33 miles without the sun changing position during those eleven hours.

It's reasonable to wonder if editing room debates are at the root of chronological discrepancies. It would be interesting to know how many more pages were in the script’s first draft, or how much more footage was shot that wasn’t used. Several moments feel like they would have mattered more if they had additional time to breathe, like when someone confesses his true identity after only a few minutes of screentime, leaving what’s supposed to be a shock feel like a low-impact reveal.

Many of the pacing problems are forgivable, and certainly understandable, given the movie’s sizable scope. The event lasts five days and features 50 walkers, which doesn’t even include the soldiers in pace vehicles, spectators on sidewalks, of Mark Hamill’s hammy military villain overseeing the gruesome spectacle. It’s a tall order to fit everything into a convenient 100-minute runtime, and it’s challenging to come up with perfect spots where anything could be comfortably cut to accommodate alternate content.

Some deaths trigger devastating breakdowns that are hard to empathize with because those characters spent days enduring trauma together while we’ve only seen them share time for sixty seconds. Other deaths, and a fair portion of the movie too, are carried almost entirely by the cast’s collective charisma. David Jonsson in particular shines as Peter, the film’s irrepressible heart to Ray’s drive for vengeance.

Once “The Long Walk” winds closer to its conclusion, these stronger character portraits push structural flaws into the rearview on the way to an ending that’s hard to predict. From the complicated worldviews developed out of heartbreaking backstories to perspectives reshaped by other participants, “The Long Walk” serves up a lot to chew on, even after end credits roll. And it’s rare for a horror movie to run this deep on solemn themes about the value of friendship, finding hope in oppressive darkness, and refusing to be broken by bleakness.

Review Score: 75