Movie Review: The Long Walk (2025)

Synopsis: In an alternate reality, 1970s America is run by a totalitarian government and most of the population lives in extreme poverty. Each year, young men representing all 50 states are given the opportunity to receive a large cash prize and one wish by participating in the Long Walk, a grueling event that has the men walking non-stop until only one remains. The catch - if a walker's pace falls below 3 miles per hour or they attempt to quit, they will be executed by the armed guards escorting them.

Who's in it? The movie stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Charlie Plummer and Garrett Wareing.

Review: When I first saw the trailer for The Long Walk, I had a lot of doubts about the movie. For one, a lot of films developed from Stephen King books tend to fall flat and a dystopian movie featuring a bunch of people walking and talking for nearly two hours did seem like it would get dull quickly.

As a result of that, I didn't bother watching the film until last night, when my wife and I decided to finally do so. I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong and after watching this movie, I can honestly say I was wrong with my prejudgment. 

For the most part, the film is exactly what I thought it would be - a bunch of characters walking and talking to each other, which is arguably simplistic as far as dystopian films go. However, it was also something that surprisingly worked because it made it easy to become invested in those characters, especially the main protagonist, Raymond (Hoffman), who was determined to win so he could use his wish to kill the man running the event, the Major (Hamill) and some of the participants who probably could be considered lesser villains, like the bullying Gary Barkovitch (Plummer).

The movie also does a great job setting up the suspense by given the characters three warnings before they are shot, putting most of them on the verge of getting a bullet in their heads whenever they had a stumble or started to doze off. The march up a steep hill when they were already getting exhausted was especially tense.

One thing that impressed me as well was how the film didn't shy away from the harshness of such an event, including things from the damage such a long walk would do to someone's body and how participants would avoid getting shot when nature called. As the walk took its toll, both physically and psychologically, I wondered how many "friends" would eventually turn on each other and try to get an edge and did keep the ending a surprise as a result.

One complaint I had about the film is one I haven't taken the time to look up but I'm sure others have probably caught as well - the distance and time they supposedly walked don't add up. The film shows them entering days four and five when, at a 3 mile per hour pace (or faster), they should have only been on day two or three. It's not a huge deal but why not strive for some accuracy when anyone with a calculator can figure out the math is wrong.

I also wish the movie would have spent at least a little more time explaining the timeline the characters were living in. There was mention of a war but very few details about how that war caused our government to collapse into what it became. I'm not even completely sure who the Major was, was he the guy who ran the entire government or just a major contributor to the cause? If it was the former, it would seem like he'd have much more important things to do than oversee the competition and if it was the latter, then Raymond's dream of changing the world by killing him didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I'm sure it was one of those things the book explained better.

Final Opinion: It's not a perfect movie and there are some things I wish would have been clarified better but the film did exceed my expectations and I would describe it as a movie worth watching.

My Grade: B+

________________________________________________________________________

Here are some reviews of other movies based on Stephen King stories:

Movie Review: Stand by Me (1986)

Movie Review: The Monkey (2025)

Movie Review: Sleepwalkers (1992)

Movie Review: Salem's Lot (1979)