The Long Walk mines early Stephen King novel for a modern-day message

2025 has been an impressively prolific year as far as Stephen King adaptations go. The year has already brought the horror film The Monkey (based on a 1980 short story) and the sentimental The Life of Chuck (based on a 2020 short story). Now comes The Long Walk, another film that digs deep into King’s prolific archive, with the original book (under King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman) coming out in 1979.

In the world of the film, young men from all 50 states volunteer for a lottery to compete in a competition called The Long Walk for a chance to win a large cash prize. The catch is it’s not a race, but rather a feat of endurance, as every participant must maintain a speed of at least 3 miles per hour until only one person remains. Those who are unable to do so are given a series of three warnings until they are finally - and brutally - shot.

Among the participants are Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), who happens to come from the state where the competition starts; Peter McVries (David Jonsson), an affable and confident guy; Gary Barkovitch (Charlie Plummer), who seems to antagonize everybody he meets; and Hank Olson (Ben Wang), a mouthy kid who teams up with Raymond and Peter. All the while, the group is urged on by The Major (Mark Hamill), who seems to take great pleasure in their suffering.

Directed by Francis Lawrence and written by JT Mollner, the film mostly consists of conversations between the participants in the competition, with the occasional killing underscoring the intensity of what they’re doing. Much of the dialogue is between Raymond and Peter, who become fast friends and share thoughts that are both practical and philosophical. The walk literally never stops, so there’s a natural propulsiveness to the story even during scenes that feature nothing but talking.

The details of the story can be a tad confusing, though. The film is clearly set at some point in the mid-20th century, as all of the vehicles come from that era and the young men all wear clothes and shoes that are far from modern. But they also live in a dystopian, financially-strapped world where every young man feels he has no choice but to enter a lottery for a competition in which he will most likely die. The alternate universe reality takes some time to get used to.

Lawrence, who has directed every Hunger Games film, is right at home pitting a group of young people against each other in a televised spectacle that can feature graphic violence. If you so choose, the film is easy to read as a commentary on the current state of the world, where the themes of the story lie closer to reality than perhaps even King could predict.

In a short career that has included films like Licorice Pizza and Saturday Night, Hoffman has already proved himself as a worthy successor to his late father, Philip Seymour Hoffman. He has a natural empathy in his acting that draws you in, and a talent that pulls the most out of every line. Jonsson is his equal and perhaps even more compelling here, as the English actor uses a mumbly voice and squinty face to great effect.

There’s not much to The Long Walk other than walking, talking, and killing, but it still makes for an intense experience that rises above its simplicity. It’s difficult to classify a film like this as “entertainment,” but the performances of Hoffman, Jonsson, and others make it a great watch despite the cruelty.

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The Long Walk opens in theaters on September 12.