'The Long Walk' Review: A Brutal March to Greatness in Stephen King Adaptations
- Jack Ransom
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Jack Ransom - September 4, 2025
“Walk, until there’s only one of you left.”
Arriving hot on the heels of The Life of Chuck, is the next, long awaited, Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk. This sci-fi horror film sees a group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as "The Long Walk," where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.
How does The Long Walk balance horror, drama, and humanity?
Written under the pseudonym of ‘Richard Bachman’ and released in 1979, the novel may not have captured the pop culture limelight in the way that Carrie, The Shining, It, or The Shawshank Redemption, but check the comments on the trailer and you’ll see plenty of viewers expressing how this tale was a favourite of theirs. I certainly want to give the novel a read having now seen this film as I am glad and surprised to confirm that this is one of the best cinematic King adaptations.
The film strides straight into its gruelling premise swiftly. Efficiently establishing the rules of the titular journey, introducing us to the participants and locking us in for the journey. The screenplay and pacing chips away at the participants sanity, fluctuating their moods and attitudes to each other and their outlook on the walk itself and society’s fascination with and voyeuristic nature surrounding the ‘event’. We are provided slithers of information and drip-fed details of this bleak near future world, with echoes of V for Vendetta & 1984 (and director Francis Lawrence most famous credits - The Hunger Games) in terms of the all-seeing and militaristic government.
At its core, The Long Walk taps more into the vein of King’s dramatic stories than horror. The youthful joviality, heartbreak and brotherhood of Stand by Me, the resilience, persistence and human spirit of Shawshank, as well as the human unpredictably and cunning of Misery. Every so often, the horror seeps through. Every callous gunshot, gnarly bloody remains, snapped ankle, squirm inducing inevitable human bodily function (you know what I’m getting at), and the bleak, vast open road ahead sets in palpable dread that always inevitably overwhelms the moments of levity and keeps you constantly on edge.
Do the young cast members rise to the challenge?
The performances are stellar, and this younger cast showcases a lot of potential, and two definitive star turns. Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson are an engaging, likeable duo whose growing friendship and brotherly bond very much echoes that of Red and Andy in Shawshank. Other standouts of the group include Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang and Joshua Odjick. Overseeing the proceedings is a menacing, growly and remorseless Mark Hamill as ‘The Major’.
Could The Long Walk be ranked among the very best Stephen King adaptations?
The Long Walk is a brutal, tense, emotional journey, peppered with moments of snarky humour. The vast landscapes, myriads of weather conditions and bursts of savage practical effects are presented effectively. Featuring standout performances from Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson and a terrifying Mark Hamill. One of the best King adaptations we’ve had!
'The Long Walk' releases in cinemas September 12
Want more film reviews? Check out more content on our website Film Focus Online!
