- David Jonsson, Judi Greer, Ben Wang, Cooper Hoffman, Charlie Plummer, Mark Hamill
- September 12th 2025
- 108
- Francis Lawrence
Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson star in Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Stephen King’s dystopian horror The Long Walk.
The Long Walk is the third Stephen King film adaptation to be released this year (and we still have The Running Man to come), and it is the best so far.
The survival thriller, based on the first story King ever wrote as a teenager at university, is set in a dystopian version of America run by a totalitarian regime.
Overseen by The Major (Mark Hamill), The Long Walk is an annual walking competition in which 50 young men are selected, one to represent each state.
During the contest, they must maintain a minimum pace of three miles per hour or face execution.
The winner is the last surviving walker, and they receive a cash prize and are granted one wish.
The horrifying and unique concept will draw audiences in, but viewers will stay because of the camaraderie between Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), Peter McVries (David Jonsson), Hank Olson (Ben Wang) and Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot).
In particular, Ray and Pete’s friendship is the heart and soul of the story. JT Mollner, adapting King’s novel, slowly peels back the layers with these characters and they reveal more about themselves as the miles pass.
They become each other’s support systems, making sure they keep putting one foot in front of the other when they feel like they can’t go on anymore.
Armed with Mollner’s superb script, Hoffman and Jonsson deliver excellent, heart-wrenching performances, proving they deserve to be bigger stars.
The film is directed by Francis Lawrence, who is perhaps best known for making the final three Hunger Games films. There are a lot of similarities between the two stories – young people are killed off until one remains – but the handling of the violence is different.
In The Hunger Games films, the violence in the novels was watered down to cater to a younger age rating, whereas King was adamant that The Long Walk movie had to be as brutal as his novel.
Lawrence delivered on this, presenting us with some graphic deaths that do not shy away from bloody injury detail as well as some gross moments involving bodily functions.
The Long Walk is a bleak and depressing film that will leave you stunned to silence as the credits roll.
While it isn’t exactly an enjoyable film (it’s not meant to be), the script and strong performances all around make it one of the best of the year.
In cinemas from Friday 12th September.
By Hannah Wales.
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