It's been a while since we've had a really strong Stephen King adaptation, one that balances the humanity of his fiction with the horror. The Long Walk is a true standout. The film doesn't sugarcoat the source material's gruesome premise, but it does have a heck of a lot of heart and some breakout performances from the young cast. The Long Walk is one of the best horror movies this fall and a terrifying cautionary tale.
The Long Walk is based on King's 1979 novel, which he published under the pen name Richard Bachman. Set in a totalitarian America, the story follows young men who have been picked from a lottery to walk endless miles. There is no finish line. If they fail to keep walking, they're shot in the head by merciless military goons, led by the gravelly-voiced Major, played by Mark Hamill. The winner receives a huge cash prize and a single wish.
While King's book has about 100 boys, for the sake of adaptation, director Francis Lawrence and script writer JT Mollner (Strange Darling), scaled that back to only a few dozen teens. The film focuses on just a few of them, which allows for some memorable moments among the cast and character development. I can't understate how good some of the performances are, especially Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman's son. He certainly has his dad's talent. He stars as the earnest Raymond Garraty, a mama's boy who harbors a secret about why he wants to win the contest and what he plans to do if he wins.
David Jonsson, of Alien: Romulus fame, is the other standout here. He stars as Peter McVries. No matter how grueling and gruesome the walk, he encourages his peers to still find beauty in their surroundings and through the friendships they forge with each other. He waxes poetic and serves as the film's moral compass. I'm eager to see Hoffman and Jonsson continue to land major roles.
Even some of the more minor characters, like Ben Wang's Hank, Tut Nyuot's Art, and Jordan Gonzalez's Richard, are memorable. They round out the cast well and provide levity. That's the thing about this film. Despite the absolutely violent premise and bloodshed, there's still plenty of laughs and some dark humor.
Charlie Plummer's erratic and unpredictable Gary Barkovitch is another highlight. You get a sense that at any moment, he may snap and take out one of the contestants or himself. He's a walking livewire, yet, like the other boys, he, too, shows vulnerability and flashes of humanity at times.
If I have one gripe, it's that the film's dystopian world is a bit too thinnly drawn. The rules of the contest are clear, but the state of America itself is murkier. There's mention of civil war and economic disparity, but nothing beyond that. That said, the film does handle the concept of spectatorship well. As the boys walk, residents in small town America watch silently from the side of the road, and there's simply something eerie about this. To the viewers and the military, these boys are completely disposable. Their deaths are pure entertainment. The small town settings, or sprawling wheat fields, also feel very desolate and foster an increased sense of isolation.
The adaptation also handles well the morality and ethics of King's fiction. It increasingly becomes a struggle for some of the more noble characters, like Peter, to hang onto their morals in such a dire circumstance. It's clear from the outset nearly every character will die. There can only be one winner. Those are the rules. The boys have to decide if they'll continue helping each other or turn on each other. If one of the contestants stops for too long to go to the bathroom, the military shoots without remorse. The walk continues. There's no time to stop and grieve. There's such a disregard for life, and this is certainly a film with its share of heartbreaking scenes.
While the movie is pretty faithful to the source material, it does make one major change in the final act. This may rub some King fans the wrong way, but for the sake of the film, it works. It also makes sense for the characters on screen and within the adaptation.
The Long Walk is a gripping and grisly tale that's not for the squeamish. Yet, despite how ruthless the film is at times, and it really is, it still elevates humanity above all else. This is one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations in recent memory, with knock-out performances from Hoffman and Jonsson especially.
The Long Walk opens in theaters on September 12.