Plot Summary: A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as "The Long Walk," in which they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: JT Mollner, Stephen King

Runtime: 1 hour 48 mins

• Copper Hoffman as Raymond Garraty #47
• David Jonsson as Peter McVries #23
• Garrett Wareing as Stebbins #38
• Tut Nyuot as Arthur Baker #6
• Mark Hamill as The Major
• Judy Greer as Mrs. Ginnie Garraty

Review by: Samuel

What I Didn’t Like:

I’m going to start with what I didn’t like because it’s really just one overall thing that I need tog et out of the way, and that is the fundamental premise of the film. This walk is (unfortunately) a zero-sum game. As a participant, you win when others lose. So, the idea of these contestants becoming close friends and cheering on each other to keep walking never sat right with me because in the back of my head I kept thinking “you know…only one of you can win right?” 

Also, and this is a bit of a nitpick- it’s established that this walk has been going on for a while so all these contestants KNOW the rules. So, it was a confusing (almost annoying) when they would complain about how long they’ve been walking or curse at the soldiers who are watching over them or curse at the spectators as if they were unaware all of this was going to be happening to them.

That ends my dislikes, and honestly, they’re both a double edged sword because on the other side of them, there’s stuff to enjoy. 

What I Liked:

Walking is inherently not interesting. Even when it’s a hundred-mile endurance test to the death, watching people put one foot in front of the other for 2 hours wouldn’t be a fun time. Unless, of course, you set the stakes early and NAIL the characters. And this movie did both with flying colors. The stakes are set just before the opening scene, and it literally left my jaw dropped. Kudos to the practical effect department here- this movie was disturbingly gruesome in all the right ways. When you see these young men get their “ticket punched” it hurts…EVERY time. Even when it’s characters you’ve barely gotten to know. The level of realism here goes to the direction, cinematography, acting, sound, and every other aspect of a scene (lighting!) to make you feel like you are witnessing actual executions on screen. Just Wow. 

Now the film has an ensemble cast, and as I mentioned there are about 50 participants led on the walk by the Major- the authoritarian military lead who organized and watches over the walk (play brilliantly by Mark Hamil). Though we only spend actual quality time with about 5 or 6 of them during the run time, the actual focal point are the two contestants Ray and Pete played by Cooper Hoffman and David Jonssson respectively. These two are the reason why every time my mind told me “only one of you can win, stop helping each other” it also said “oh my gosh, you both need to survive, help each other!”  They became like actual brothers during this days long walk and even though they had vastly different reasons for entering, you couldn’t help but want both of them to get their prize. 

I won’t spoil what they or the other characters we meet want out of the walk, because I think it’s important to witness that yourself, but I will say the questions I had about “why would someone volunteer for this” were answered.  This leads me to another thing I liked- the world. This is obviously not our world. Something happened to tun America into a desolate, totalitarian place where oppression has run rampant. Certain thoughts, ideas, and even books are banned. And this walk is clearly some kind of propaganda. We pieces of what the world outside of this walk is like, but I have to say those pieces were interesting enough for me to want to see more stories in this world. 

I also really liked seeing how the walk changed some characters. You are a very different person when you’re well rested vs when you’ve walked 150 miles straight. Your ankles swell, you become irritable, you lash out at bystanders doing nothing, you cry out all of your regrets. Some characters have breakdowns that are some of the most heartbreaking you’ll see this year in cinema, and that is not something I was expecting to see. 

Lastly, I’ll say the tension is there when it needs to be. Thing you would think of become real problems for our favorite characters. What happens if you get sleepy? What if you need to use the bathroom? What if your shoe becomes untied and you need to tie it? What if, after 100 miles, you have to walk UPHILL?!  These are unexpected moments that I loved because they turned the ordinary into a life or death moment. 

Images Courtesy of IMDB