MOVIE REVIEW! - "The Long Walk"

In “The Long Walk”, 50 young men are chosen to take part in an annual contest in a dystopian version of America. The rule of the game is simple: just keep walking. However, anyone who falls below 3 miles per hour for more than 10 seconds gets two warnings but on the third time, the walker gets publicly executed. The last man standing wins a cash prize and one wish.

Some of the young men begin to befriend each other as they continue to walk down the road. In particular, Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter McVries (David Jonsson) start to bond and learn more about why they are participating in such a cruel contest.

The boys are also surrounded by soldiers as they walk and they are led by the Major (Mark Hamill), a man who keeps a close eye on things from behind his mirrored sunglasses.

Fifty men must continue walking or risk getting executed in "The Long Walk".

This movie is based on a book by Stephen King that he wrote under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. The screenplay was written by JT Mollner and directed by “Constantine” director Francis Lawrence.

Both the writer and director created one brutal movie that, given its premise, is never allowed to stop. When a walker falls, you feel the impact of the loss as these men do grow to care for each other, showing that friendships can be forged in even the most dire of situations.

The only minor issue that I have with the movie is that I do wish we could have learned more about how this world came to be and how “The Long Walk” started. You only get the bare bones background that this is a dystopian world and every year, 50 people are chosen to take part in the contest.

I say that not getting a deeper look into the world is only a minor criticism, though, because truth be told, the story is not about the world these young men live, it’s about the men themselves.

Mark Hamill plays the sinister character known only as The Major in "The Long Walk".

Speaking of which, despite the solid writing and directing, this movie would absolutely fall apart if not for Hoffman and Jonsson. These two actors turn in fantastic performances and you genuinely want to cheer them on during this contest. After catching Hoffman in “Saturday Night” and Jonsson in “Alien: Romulus” and now seeing both of them in this, I’m definitely keeping an eye out for any future work of theirs.

Of course, every good protagonist needs a good antagonist and Hamill’s character, the Major, is definitely one hard son of a bitch. Hamill never takes it over-the-top and does great character work here as a man that not only works for whatever system America is now built upon but he’s the embodiment of it and the face of a now tyrannical country.

There’s really not much more I can say without getting further into spoiler territory. I’ll just say that it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a year where there were so many bangers in the horror, thriller, and horror/thriller genres.

Films like “Sinners”, “Weapons”, “Companion”, “Bring Her Back”, “Final Destination: Bloodlines”, and “28 Years Later” have already rocked the big screen. Now, you can add “The Long Walk” to the list of truly stellar horror/thrillers that we’ve received this year. This is a walk worth taking.