The Long Walk (2025 | USA | 108 | Francis Lawrence)
We follow Ray (Cooper Hoffman) as he prepares himself to take “The Long Walk”, a yearly pilgrimage not to the holy land but something much more deathy. We find he’s living in a post apocalyptic type of world where many are going hungry, under or unemployed, and desperate for even a moment of joy, wishing for the impossible dream of winning the lottery or something like it. Only one man leaves The Long Walk alive, it has no end until the moment that singular survivor remains. Moving forward, always moving forward Ray and newly found friends Peter (David Jonsson), Baker (Tut Nyout) and Olsen (Ben Wang) while away the hours shooting the shit just so they don’t notice their hunger, weariness and fear. One by one the larger group starts whittling away and they all know what’s coming, but how will all this shake out? Stories start spilling out, the private kind that nearly no one knows are laid bare as the trust between recent strangers builds quickly, knowing their end is near.
If you’ve ever seen a Stephen King mini-series or film then you know the general feel for this movie. A sense of innocence that will soon be ruined by hidden secrets, sketchy or downright awful acts and an ending that will forever change the protagonist. There’s usually even a twist involved but this time, that twist hits a little differently and sets your head spinning. I won’t get into that but I will talk about the parts that were most affecting. When the film started, I thought to myself how can they really fill over an hour and a half of film just walking down a road but then I remembered that Stephen King’s strength is his ability to reveal a person’s true self simply through dialogue, his storytelling is through character study and it’s no more evident than through this, his “first” story. As the credits rolled, I ruminated on the idea that it was the first story he had written (later to be published as his seventh novel) and after giving it some thought that actually makes a lot of sense. The story itself was meant to work through insecurities, how to deal with inner demons and how we should manifest our anger and frustration about how unfair the world can be. Each one of the “main” characters represents a parts of ourselves that we love and some parts we hate. That is what I loved most about the film.
In the five-ish days the walk spans, we run the gamut of emotions, personalities and physical, mental and emotional limits our bodies are capable of. It’s a tough watch in a way that I didn’t imagine; while King typically pulls us into a world that is a bit fantastical but close enough to reality that his psychological studies affect us most… this story was all too real. One of my smaller complaints is the movie’s attempt to make the situation incredibly realistic (ie bodily functions laid bare) but at the same time asking us to suspend our disbelief when Ray takes off his shoes revealing bloody socks, but he’s still able to walk about another half to whole day… That’s just one example but there were a few so it elicited an internal “oh come on” from me more than once.
Before discussing the ending, which is the real reason you should go see this new release, I wanted to throw out a couple of nods to the acting. Like I mentioned before, I was curious how they’d fill one hundred and eight minutes with a simple walk down the road, but the dialogue and the acting left no doubt that this was possible. Great writing plays a huge factor, absolutely, but acting has to bring that to life and the four protagonists (yep, I’m gonna say this is actually an ensemble cast but we’ll see what the awards shows say later) were superb. Hoffman portrayed King’s stereotypical nice guy with ease, but the underlying fear, doubt and anger his character held flowed naturally as the story revealed itself. Jonsson made you think Ray’s new best buddy Peter was the one who held the deepest darkest secrets only to find out later that he only wished to view the world through rose glasses. Third, but definitely not least, was Wang’s Olsen… and while he may not have had as many lines as the two I just mentioned, he made the most of what he was offered. Yes, he was set as the comedic relief for the most part, but there was depth to this character that I’m not sure everyone could have pulled off. As a matter of fact, the entire cast of actors added a story behind even what we were told to give each a completeness that was felt but not heard. Color me impressed.
The true masterpiece of the film and the story itself was building nearly the entire film but came to a head in the last two to five minutes. Like I mentioned, King always throws a twist in that you weren’t expecting or maybe just not prepared for, but if you’ve read enough of his work then you might guess it before it happens. While I’m not an avid reader of his, for some reason I had this sneaking suspicion that I knew something felt different about this than most of his other novels. I was generously rewarded with mixed emotions that plagued me for days after (and honestly I’m still not sure I’m resolved about any of it). Of course, you’ll see what I mean when you watch it for yourself. It’s not anything incredibly profound (though it does feel that way) but it definitely makes you question yourself and how you’d handle the same situation. That’s all I’ll say about that, and also why I highly recommend going to catch it yourself starting this weekend.
The Long Walk arrives in theaters 9/12