Starring: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garret Wareing, Tut Nyuot, and Mark Hamill
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Rated: R
Streaming on: HBO Max
First Impression:
The Long Walk is the long-awaited adaptation of a Stephen King story written all the way back in 1979 under his alias, Richard Bachman. At its core, it was meant to be a metaphor for the war in Vietnam, where young men are sent on a death march and they do not really know why. But with the political climate of today and the regime in charge, it serves as a dystopian warning of what an increasingly authoritarian government can and will do to control and terrorize the population it controls to remain in absolute power.
If you are unfamiliar with what The Long Walk is, it’s a contest that takes place every year in an alternate America where an authoritarian regime hosts a competition where 50 teenage boys are selected to walk for as long as they can, as far as they can, until they can’t walk anymore. When that happens, they get a final warning; if they still can’t walk anymore, an agent of the state shoots them dead. I know—grim stuff, right?
When I first read The Long Walk, it was a real downer filled with the impending sense of doom that was to befall all the contestants except for the winner. But even winning The Long Walk just sets up that person as a pawn in the regime’s game to scare and control everyone who had to watch and cheer the horrific experience. Director Francis Lawrence, who also directed The Hunger Games, approached this adaptation with the intention to make it more of a thriller and less of a slog like the book was at times. He allows the characters to be both excited about joining the long walk and show their youthful enthusiasm for what they are going to do with their grand prize, and he also shows how all their hopes pop faster than a balloon next to a hot light when the first contestant is killed for not being able to walk anymore. Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, shines as protagonist Ray Garraty. He is the de facto leader of sorts; he is always the one to give motivation and assurance to the other contestants throughout the walk. We also see another satisfying performance from Mark Hamill as the unnerving “Major,” who runs the contest for the state.
In conclusion, the movie feels a bit uneven, and it loses some momentum at the end, but it’s worth the watch and moves fast at under two hours of runtime. Despite its flaws, its message is clear and disturbing.