The Long Walk (2025) Movie Review: An Unflinchingly Brutal, Emotionally Punishing Stephen King Adaptation

Ever since Sissy Spacek took on the titular role in Brian De Palma’s terrifying classic “Carrie,” Hollywood has been obsessed with adapting the work of Stephen King. King’s creative, if somewhat unwieldy, ideas contain the type of brilliant loglines that can immediately hook an audience. Cinematic iterations of his work tend to benefit from their inherently compelling worldbuildings. Although it’s been a rocky few years for King adaptations, as ambitious projects like “The Dark Tower” and the reboot of “Pet Semetary” fell on their faces, “The Long Walk” is a highly upsetting, shockingly cynical gem that’s worthy of sitting alongside classics like “The Shining,” “The Dead Zone,” “Christine,” and “Misery.”

There hasn’t exactly been a dearth of films about a totalitarian future, as recent events have made drawing these nightmare scenarios feel more plausible. “The Long Walk” puts in enough effort to set up the context for how the world could end up in such a brutalistic situation, but it also benefits from the seemingly inescapable tragedy of the last few years. It’s a world in which the protagonists are placed in a situation in which the status quo is unwavering, and they must follow the rules of a rigged game they have no chance of benefiting from. “The Long Walk” is an exasperated cry of rage, frustration, and confusion within a culture that has desensitized itself to tragedy, and its unwillingness to look away from the graphically disturbing consequences that entail.

“The Long Walk” is set in an ambiguous near-future in which the United States has emerged from a cataclysmic war and been reformed into a military dictatorship. Those who dare to speak out against the regime in command are silenced with force, and any resemblance to cultural expression has been ironed out of a society that’s been forced to stay in line. As an annual contest, the government has instituted an event in which a group of young men is forced to walk along a pre-arranged route at a pace of at least three miles per hour. While the sole winner will be granted a prize of their choice, all others are met with a grizzly fate at the will of the armed guards that walk alongside them on their path.

The distressing parallel that “The Long Walk” draws to modern times is the self-imposed delusion that the protagonists create for themselves as they engage in the sadistic activity. None of the propaganda has affected them significantly, as even the most fatalistic competitors recognize that this tradition is all smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately, they’ve also been raised by a society in which resistance is seen as an impossibility, even if there are more dissenters than there are enforcers. Even if they live within a culture that doesn’t support “The Long Walk” itself, the inaction of those too afraid to stand in defiance has created situations in which the odds are stacked firmly in favor of the powerful elite.

A still from The Long Walk (2025). — A still from “The Long Walk” (2025).

Despite the presumably sizable budget that a studio like Lionsgate would have to adapt a classic written by one of the world’s most popular authors, it’s impressive that director Francis Lawrence shows a great deal of restraint in isolating the film’s events to the route itself. There are a few key flashbacks that paint a grim portrait of the trauma endured by Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), a young man who becomes a leader amongst his fellow competitors, but they exist purely as brief, painful memories that he’s unable to erase from his mind. The overbearing mundanity and relentlessly consistent nature of the event somehow make it more unbearable; by choosing not to escalate the stakes, Lawrence has made the premise of “The Long Walk” seem even more hopeless.

Even a concept as intellectually stimulating as the one in “The Long Walk” would be turgid if it weren’t populated by compelling characters, but the film has an incredible ensemble of some of the industry’s most promising young actors. At the heart of the story is the burgeoning friendship between Raymond and Pete McVries (David Jonsson), a surprisingly optimistic, soulful character who only briefly alludes to a pitiable backstory. Even if the contest will only ever end one way, the chemistry between the entire cast is strong enough to create the brief illusion that these relationships could be sustained. It’s a particularly cruel twist, as the cynicism of “The Long Walk” does not extend to its portrayal of the human spirit. While the unfathomable pressure does lead to some bitter divisions, these young men ultimately find a sense of camaraderie within their shared bravery and fellowship with one another.

The ensemble is populated by compelling characters who are not written in broad strokes, as “The Long Walk” does not conform to convention when it chooses to stage its reveals, twists, and emotional climaxes. The characters may be given numbers that they are casually referred to as by the fearsome Major (Mark Hamill, in one of his most chilling performances), but Lawrence is keen to highlight their individualism. The friction that emerges is the result of pent-up outrage at the senselessness of the ordeal. For a character as emotionally nuanced as Raymond, there’s no point at which he can become entirely adjusted to the notion that one of his comrades could be gunned down for falling behind.

It’s particularly affecting that Lawrence chooses not to steer away from the most graphic moments of violence, as to do so would give the viewer a chance to escape the implications that are so often provided when scapegoats are involved. The deaths are shocking, but not in the exorbitant manner of a slasher film. Each character that perishes has waged their own psychological battle before ultimately being reduced to a decaying mound of human remains. “The Long Walk” offers several searing truisms about fascism and banality, but its most striking moments involve this pack of young men forcing themselves to keep moving as their fellow youths are gunned down. The message is evident: those who ignore the suffering are not freed from their guilt, and no degree of ignorance will erase those painful moments.

Lawrence is an accomplished filmmaker who has made a career out of elevating studio crowd pleasers into surprisingly nuanced, anti-authoritarian works of genre entertainment. Although his impressive resume includes “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “I Am Legend,” “Constantine,” and “Red Sparrow,” “The Long Walk” is his best film to date. It’s a great modern adaptation of one of King’s most loaded stories, and one that feels more relevant than ever.