The Long Walk Review – A Brutal Portrayal of Humanity and Brotherhood

Hope is predatory; it seeps into our lives with the promise of a better future, a better life for those you love the most. But hope can also lead to submission, a way to keep others in line. If you remain obedient and follow the rules, then there’s a chance to rise to the top. But what is “chance,” and what are people willing to sacrifice for that opportunity?

In The Long Walk, hope is all people living in an American dystopia have. The walk is not just meant for the participants but also the citizens watching, who desperately need inspiration for more productivity after a long-fought, grueling war that left the country completely decimated. Surrounded by poverty, filled with emptiness, eve,ry year, male teenage citizens can turn their lives around by winning a simple contest: walk until there’s only one person left. There are no rest stops; they must maintain a minimum speed of 3 miles per hour. They can only receive water and food supplies from soldiers monitoring the walk. They are given three warnings, they are shot dead after the fourth warning, and most importantly, there can only be one winner.

50 teenagers, one from each state, are selected to walk to a better future. While most dread this day, there are some who long for it. What else do they have to lose if the life they already live is worse than death? The day starts off simple; in fact, it feels like the first day of camp. There’s a lightness in the air as the boys introduce themselves to each other, some even donning smiles as sun rays promise perfect weather conditions. Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) is dropped off by his worrying mother, who knows she could be seeing her son for the last time. Sending her child to his possible death is never an easy task, but he assures her that things will be okay. She knows it will not.

As their day progresses, there’s a sort of hopefulness mixed with uneasiness in the air that can’t be described, but the negative thoughts are pushed aside as the walkers quickly find themselves forming alliances and sharing stories about the state of the world, the lives they left behind, what they’ll do with the prize, and their one wish that’s granted at the end of the race. Others are open with their desires; some hide their true motives for being there. Donning themselves as ‘Musketeers,’ the group consists of Pete McVries (David Jonsson), Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot), and Hank Solson (Ben Wang). With the game’s omnipresent organizer, The Major (Mark Hamill), observing, he speaks with a booming commanding voice, yells patriotic sayings, and offers harsh encouragement and monologues about sacrifice, similar to a drill sergeant. The watcher always watches. The boys drown out the noise as Pete and Ray become fast friends, relying on each other despite knowing one of them (or both of them) might die.

Despite the film’s heavy tone, Pete and Ray’s relationship is both grounding and touching as they learn to look at the world through each other’s eyes. Pete is a refreshing optimist who sees beauty in all things and people. He’s genuinely excited about life despite all the evil that surrounds him. While Ray’s darkness almost consumes him with thoughts of revenge, homesickness, and a painful personal death. His mother, played by Judy Geer, tries to provide comfort, even for a second, as she witnesses his walk, but even the sight of her causes Ray to break. Luckily, the bond he shares with Pete helps to pull him through. They both evolve to become leaders of the group.

Despite the large ensemble, each character is humanized, and as a result, it is easy to become attached to them and root for them and almost have a heart attack when one of the boys takes too long to remove a stone from his shoe. They build relationships, become enemies, and make the audience question their motives. The walk that started with such ease soon becomes a battle of mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional endurance as, one by one, the group of 50 dwindles, their battered carcasses decorating the route with their blood and brain matter. If the sheer sudden violence isn’t enough on the psyche, the weather and terrain soon take their toll. Even ground transforms into steep hills that test their 3 mph speed, and hail pounds on their exposed bodies, giving way to illness, cough, and fever. The boys cough, freeze, vomit, sleep, dream, hallucinate, and defecate as they continue walking with soldiers ready to point their guns in their faces, itching to pull the trigger.

Each death is more heartlessly brutal, realistically horrific, and violent than the last. It’s not only an endurance test for the characters but also for the audience, who is given front-row access to its brutality. Are the audience and the people watching The Walk’s broadcast just as heinous as the government putting these teenagers through these events? While the film never focuses on the spectators, the audience knows they exist; the camera is always watching. Or is it just like Pete said, everyone just “gets used to it”? But when is enough, enough?

Directed by Francis Lawrence with a script by JT Mollner, the film strips away the distractions, the spectacle of the crowds, and the heavy backstories to instead focus solely on its characters. Flashbacks are used sparingly to further drive the plot forward and provide ample time with each character as they process their own feelings and inner turmoil. After a plethora of questionable Stephen King adaptations, The Long Walk not only gets it right, but it’s also a painful reflection of society’s lack of humanity, voyeurism, and desensitized views on violence. Similar to how children were used as pawns in Weapons or as entertainment in The Hunger Games franchise, The Long Walk is an unflinching look at how society and individuals thrive on violence, oppression, and fear. Like The Zone of Interest, which focused on the banality of evil and people “just doing their job” within Hitler’s regime, The Major, with his overbearing voice and dark shades, is unfazed by a child’s head getting blown off. After all, he’s also just doing his job, and if he doesn’t, there will be someone else to replace him. But there is another side to the Major that asks, does he take pleasure in other people’s pain, and are people watching to live vicariously through his sadistic nature?

Written in 1967, King’s novel is often compared to going to war, the dehumanization of young men, the loss of innocence, and sacrificing children for the “greater good.” The characters’ survival and choices they make in the face of life and death are similar to the experiences of combat. The Long Walk’s version of a contest where teenagers face execution for the chance to win a prize is a heartbreaking and chilling social commentary on the dark side of war and the sacrifices that are made.

The Long Walk is not for the faint of heart but is filled with passion, love, and understanding of the material and complex human emotions. There is not enough praise that can be said about its cast and the impressive talents they display. Ben Wang, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, and Joshua Odjick are the glue of the movie, while Hoffman and the Jonsson are its core. The ending is a gut-punch that questions the power and damage done to the human psyche. Does one ever recover after an event as brutal as what they witnessed? How are they, or is the fractured mind better off? At the end of the day, there was still so far to walk.