"The Long Walk" is Brutal and Dehumanizing

Young men are on a long walk for a better future. At first, they make jokes, they joke around, and they view their trek with optimism and hope. The men are all walking for a reason: they are on a nationally broadcast TV program where 50 men must walk as far as they can. The only rule is that they have to keep pace at three miles per hour. If they go below that, they get a warning. Go below it again, and they get a second warning. If they get a third warning, they “get their ticket punched.” If they try to get off the path, they get their ticket punched without warning.

This is “The Long Walk,” based on a novel that was written by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bach. If the concept of young people playing a deadly game feels too similar to “The Hunger Games,” no need to worry; director Francis Lawrence (who directed four out of the five ‘Hunger Games’ movies) is on board to bring this gruesome game to life. And it truly is gruesome. While we are aware that this is a game and that it is being broadcast on TV, we never see the behind-the-scenes result of the production. There are no suits talking about how the game keeps citizens under control or people watching TV for pure entertainment.

The young men, in fact, hardly acknowledge that this is a game. It is just something that has been happening for years, and now it is their turn. Considering the whole point of the game is to walk until there is only one left walking, it is amazing that the game is as intense as it is. The first several miles are uneventful and almost fun, but then the cramps begin. Soon, bodily waste necessities become more inconvenient than usual. What happens when day becomes night and there is no possibility for sleep? Occasionally, a man known simply as ‘The General’ (Mark Hamill) appears to give a pep talk on a moving truck, pontificating that what they are doing is more noble than the savagery it actually is.

While the movie is being released in 2025, the original novel came out in 1979. That authors questioned the nation's desire to watch violence on TV so early on is one thing; that the question is still relevant should make us all pause with concern (and if you don’t believe me, stop and think of how popular football is despite the well-documented long-term damage it does to many of the players). “The Long Walk” does an admirable job of adapting the source material into something that is engaging and disturbing to watch. On a final note: a young actor by the name of David Jonsson steals every scene he is in, and I feel I have just witnessed a star-making performance.