Review: The Long Walk

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Written by: JT Mollner

Starring: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer

Rating: [3.5/5]

A distinct detachment exists when watching individuals perform at a high level in the world of sports, where we watch athletes with a distinct level of fitness unattainable for the average person. This occurs from a combination of natural talent and training only afforded to the smallest sliver of the population. Therefore, it makes the physically arduous task laid before the characters in The Long Walk strangely relatable as an activity that any able-bodied person could plausibly participate in before considering all the dystopian future elements. This all culminates in a difficult but engaging viewing experience from beginning to end. 

In a future where poverty remains rampant across the board, an annual event takes place where one young man from each state gains the opportunity to participate in the popularly televised “The Long Walk” with the objective being the last person standing receives riches unavailable to anyone else. This year’s participants includes Ray (Cooper Hoffman), who enters the competition with a slightly different motivation than all the others. 

The idea of walking until one cannot physically continue serves as one of the many intriguing elements of this film. It inherently makes any individual watching it wonder how long they would last in this arduous experience, especially given that by the very rule of the competition if you stop, you are summarily executed right on the spot. An extra ounce of motivation for these characters, as if they needed more, given they each of them voluntarily signed up for this event for the prize given to the last one standing. By the very fact that this film mostly displays these young men walking, it runs the risk of feeling quite monotonous but everything bubbling under the surface and around this world allows for much more to appreciate. 

Even though Stephen King’s material this film adapts saw its release decades prior, one cannot help but draw comparison between this production and The Hunger Games with their very brazen similarities. The Long Walk does not dive in as much on the characters and the surrounding world, but the shared element of a televised program where young people from all corners of the country die for the entertainment of the populace carries the most weight. It speaks into something deeply wrong with a society that would enjoy such a program but at the very least in Suzanne Collins’s story there’s the intention of these participants actively trying to kill each other, thus adding general combat into the fray. With this story, it’s simply nonstop walking, therefore begging the question of who could possibly find enjoyment watching this. Enjoyment, of course, is not the operative word, as this program and event itself serves as a vessel of hope in seeing at least one person receive riches completely unavailable to all others because of the state of the world. 

Helping illustrate this particular struggle we have an excellent two-hander of performances from Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, two of the brightest up-and-coming actors in the game right now. Hoffman, son of one of the greatest actors of all time, serves as the lead of the story and the character given the most background. He serves as our vessel through this story as we take in the horrors and callousness of this event while his co-star, Jonsson completely steals the show by bringing in his boundless supply of charisma. Jonsson has never failed to impress since I first experienced what he could bring in Rye Lane. Ever since then he demonstrates this incredible range in portraying various types of characters but he’s absolutely magnetic as Pete. Wise-cracking but also very insightful in his approach in this event as he befriends Ray and the other guys in a sense uniting them. While only one of them can survive he comprehends that they are not each other’s enemy. Enough cannot be said of the great job done by this pair and they ultimately help shepherd along this film and help overcome the general repetitiveness of the narrative. 

Combining a fascinating concept with strong execution, The Long Walk presents the simplest of ideas but never ceases to entertain. The sound design on display, especially when shots get fired throughout the film, provide a jarring jolt to remind the audience and the participants the stakes of the situation. Through the two lead performers we see two easily likeable characters as they navigate a situation where they can build a bond but by-rule only one of them can survive. Another strong Stephen King adaptation and the best of the many released this year.