The Long Walk – Film Review
Reviewed by Harris Dang on the 11th of September 2025
Studiocanal presents a film by Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by JT Mollner based on The Long Walk by Stephen King
Produced by Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Francis Lawrence, and Cameron MacConomy
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
Cinematography Jo Willems
Edited by Mark Yoshikawa
Music by Jeremiah Fraites
Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 108 minutes
Release Date: the 11th of September 2025
Set in dystopian United States, The Long Walk tells the story of Raymond Garrity (Cooper Hoffman), a desperate, determined young man who enlists in an annual contest known as The Long Walk. Led by the military through the imposing figure of The Major (Mark Hamill), the walk’s rules are maintaining a walking speed of 3 miles per hour (4.8 kilometres per hour) or risk immediate execution. The last one to survive is granted a wish of their choosing. The boys in the group wish for fame or fortune while others wish for something deeper. With the one road and no finish line in sight, how far is one willing to go?
If there are any inevitabilities in mainstream cinema, they would be blockbusters, sequels, remakes, and Stephen King adaptations. In 2025, we will have four films based on his work, including The Life of Chuck, The Monkey, and the upcoming action flick The Running Man. Showing no signs of slowing down in milking the cash cow of King’s vast work, we now have The Long Walk. The film is the most brutal, uncompromising, and emotionally wrenching of the recent adaptations.
Francis Lawrence, best known for directing blockbusters Constantine (2005) and The Hunger Games films, helms this King adaptation. No stranger to adapting stark survival stories, he and screenwriter JT Mollner (who directed the horror-thriller Strange Darling) have wisely kept the story contained. They minimise worldly details and subplots outside the titular walk. The road is appropriately desolate thanks to cinematographer Jo Willems whose lensing is vivid and bleak. Meanwhile, the violence is shocking yet necessary and a stark contrast to Jeremiah Fraites’ appropriately syrupy musical score. When backstories (including Garrity’s parents) and potential plot devices (including television broadcasting) are explored, the exposition and dramatic escalation is kept to the characters competing on the walk.
Francis Lawrence has an ensemble of rising talent at his disposal. The young actors, including Tut Nyuot, Ben Wang, Charlie Plummer, Garret Wareing, and Roman Griffin Davis, all make their mark with charisma, intensity, and commitment. The camaraderie, interplay, and friction are engaging in their fruition, believable in their escalation, and poignantly impacting. All of it is headed by lead duo Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. With Hoffman’s jaded brooding and Jonsson’s exuberant optimism, their contrast is riveting in terms of bonding, conflict, and true friendship in the face of totalitarianism. As for the experienced cast, Judy Greer is the standout. She delivers heartbreaking work as Garrity’s mother, showcasing love, tenderness, and anguish over her son.
As for flaws, The Long Walk’s themes and messaging lack subtlety. Characters verbalise their feelings when visual storytelling would suffice and the musical score and potential schmaltz jars against the oppressive tone. A less-is-more approach by Lawrence would have made its message more powerful and less preachy. Another flaw is Mark Hamill’s performance. His menacing and cold-hearted depiction is overplayed so his line delivery is unintentionally funny. Consequently, despite the rest of the cast’s efforts the appropriately abrupt conclusion lacks true impact.
Overall, The Long Walk is a bleak, emotionally stirring, and gripping piece of work. It’s politically charged survival story packs a timely emotional and thematic punch for today’s audiences. Recommended.
Summary: The Long Walk is a bleak, emotionally stirring, and gripping piece of work. It’s politically charged survival story packs a timely emotional and thematic punch for today’s audiences. Recommended.
4
Visceral
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