Stephen King is a complicated writer. We love his ability to craft terror and uniquely horrific situations while also giving us deep insight into our lead characters. His dialogue and characters who aren’t troubled white men often leave something to be desired, but where King thrives is in examining male friendships and the complexities of masculinity that arise in the face of grave danger. That’s what makes his 1979 novel, The Long Walk, so memorable.
Now, in 2025, director Francis Lawrence (who helmed the Hunger Games franchise) and writer JT Mollner (Strange Darling) have adapted the 1979 novel into something that hits a little too close to home (which I mean as a compliment in this context). They maintain the integrity of the novel, while modernizing it just enough for it to feel deeply relevant for our current cultural moment, which is defined by the meteoric rise of fascism. It’s a perfect Stephen King adaptation that understands what King was getting at, rather than stripping it of everything but its most horrific moments.
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Set in a dystopian United States recovering after civil war, there’s a yearly raffle where a boy from each state is chosen to participate in The Long Walk, where 50 boys must walk at a speed of three miles per hour or higher until there is only one of them left. Slow down, and you get a warning. Get three warnings and you’re given your ticket, aka a bullet to the head. The last boy standing gets riches beyond his wildest dreams, along with the granting of a single wish. This competition is meant to inspire the country to work hard. But really, it’s just an object of manipulation, born from the mind of the Major (a deliciously evil Mark Hamill channeling his best Donald Trump).
Enter Ray Garratty (Cooper Hoffman), a young man who has the hometown advantage in this year’s walk. As he arrives at the starting line, he meets his cohort, including soon-to-be best friend Peter McVries (David Jonsson), Hank Olson (Ben Wang), and Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot). Right off the bat, the boys create alliances to keep them sane. But the audience knows that these alliances are only temporary; after all, only one man can win.
As the walk begins, so does the mental and physical game of The Long Walk. Scheming boys like Barkovitch (Charlie Plummer) want to get in people’s heads and strategize their way to the top. Others, like Garratty, opt for teamwork and group support, even as they stare down the barrel of so many guns. While the film is essentially about walking and talking, the performances from these boys transform what could seem repetitive into something so deeply heartbreaking that I almost want to cry thinking about it right now.
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It’s a testament to Lawrence and Mollner, too, that they’re able to take what could be a visually boring film and make it feel fast, desperate, and terrifying. And that’s in no small part due to the fact that they commit to the dour and unflinching perspective of the novel. It’d be so easy to give The Long Walk a stereotypically happy ending that feels more in line with studio mandates and audience expectations. But thankfully, Lawrence and Mollner chose to really lean in and commit to the dour, dystopian tone while also making certain changes that feel more contemporary, without completely overhauling the core message about brotherhood and survival.
While The Long Walk is livestreamed for everyone across the country to watch, Lawrence and Mollner decide to focus on the boys without leaving their tiny, roaming world. This further crafts the intimacy between characters, while also really committing to the vintage vibes of the film, which are primarily present through costuming. The Long Walk feels suspended in time, taking place in the future, but a stunted future where technology isn’t so omnipresent. So while it may not look exactly like the U.S. today, Lawrence and Mollner use dialogue to create those similarities.
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That dialogue, though, is also the biggest issue in The Long Walk. At times, it veers into cheesy and overwrought. Many of King’s novels feel impossible to adapt due to his focus on character interiority. But here, Mollner channels that interiority into quiet moments of character intimacy as Ray and Peter have small chats in the dead of night as they trudge through the darkness. Unfortunately, those chats, especially at the beginning of the film, don’t feel natural. Instead, they feel like conversations that check boxes for setting up the plot. It gets better as the film progresses, but it’s a huge part of why the film gets off to a rather shaky start.
The Long Walk is a harrowing look at an America not far off from our own. Sure, we aren’t ordering a boy from each state to walk hundreds of miles, but we are asking young men to sacrifice themselves by joining the military and protecting their country (even if that involves going to historically Black cities and occupying them for no good reason other than presidential hubris). It’s a story that feels uncomfortably close to home, especially thanks to a clever script from Mollner and Lawrence’s careful eye directing extreme acts of violence. The Long Walk is a surprisingly disturbing release that isn’t afraid to provide a dour look at the future and what it means to live under fascism. It’s a film that leaves a rotten pit in your stomach, and will creep into your dreams when you least expect it.
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