A punishing yet thrilling tale of diminishing naivete
Stephen King wrote The Long Walk during his freshman year at college (the first novel he ever completed), though it was published over ten years later in 1979 under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The Long Walk harnesses the teenage angst, existential dread, and complicated patriotism many young minds were experiencing in the late 1960s as the Vietnam War escalated and a wartime draft approached. Surprisingly, despite its simple premise and universal themes, The Long Walk hasn’t been successfully adapted to film, though a few directors have tried. Now, under Francis Lawrence’s (The Hunger Games franchise: Catching Fire, Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) confident direction, and with strong performances and a tight script by JT Mollner (Strange Darling), The Long Walk is an fatalistic parable that demands our attention, even if we wish to look away.
Lawrence is no stranger to depicting desperate teens struggling to survive in a dystopian future (see his Hunger Games films), so The Long Walk is right in his wheelhouse. Set in a nightmarishly barren totalitarian America, fifty teens representing the fifty states are selected to participate in an annual “long walk,” where they must maintain a speed of three mph or be shot by the armed military escort, led by The Major (Mark Hamill, Star Wars). The last contestant walking will receive financial security for his lifetime and will be granted one wish for anything he desires. The fifty teens include the kind, wide-eyed and restless Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza) and the steadfast, quietly charming Peter McVries (David Jonsson, Alien: Romulus). All of the teens have volunteered to participate in the walk for a variety of reasons, yet they share a stubborn sense of patriotic duty, courage, and selfish hope that quickly begins to dissipate after the first contestant is killed. As the miles and days go by, and their bodies weaken considerably, the group of walkers gradually lose their innocence.
The Long Walk is unflinching and harrowing, using a narrow scope to intensify the viewing experience. Like King’s novel, the film lacks world-building, instead keeping its focus on the characters and their fight to stay alive. Almost everything else, aside from a few flashbacks, remains (unimportant) mysteries. The characters’ conversations with each other provide all the information you need to know, which is useful because we’re asked to spend nearly all our time with the teens as they walk, talk, push themselves to their limit, and are brutally killed. The on-the-nose dialogue and sentimental speechifying may turn off some, but the script balances out the horrors with moments of hope and emotional resilience, even as the young walkers realize their lives will be unfairly cut short. Don’t misunderstand me, though; The Long Walk is still a dark and disturbing tale.
The Long Walk delivers shreds of hope as its characters join together in friendship and class solidarity. Like you’ve probably seen in real and fictional war content, the characters in The Long Walk literally carry their companions to keep them from getting killed. We can easily see how the visuals of King’s story reflect the images being broadcast to the nation during the Vietnam War. The story also, like many of King’s books, centers around our ability to cope with the existential dread of death. The teens in The Long Walk face death’s inevitability at various junctures, whether when they see a companion killed, or when they themselves are issued multiple warnings for slowing down or stopping, knowing that death will come swiftly the moment they can’t continue walking. The characters can only find solace in befriending each other, discovering that their shared experiences give life meaning, and understanding that class unity is our most powerful tool against oppression. This message sounds saccharine, but it’s driven home honestly and tearjerkingly through Hoffman’s and Jonsson’s bravura performances.
Though nearly every year will see at least one Stephen King adaptation, the three films being released this year cover the wide expanse of King’s attitude toward our brief but meaningful existence. The Life of Chuck honors the individual moments of beauty that make up our lives, The Long Walk explores our relationship to war and death through the eyes of misled youth, and the story of The Running Man (releasing in a few months) critiques corporate control and proposes a unified front to fight it. King contains multitudes. Time will tell whether or not The Long Walk will be considered among the upper echelon of King adaptations (see Stand By Me, The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, Carrie), but it undoubtedly captures the terror and camaraderie within the original text, and it’s hard to look away.
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The Long Walk opens in theaters on Friday, September 12th.
