2025 has been a strange year for many reasons, including the films that have been released so far. Where it stands currently, the 2026 Academy Awards will likely go down as one of the most bizarre assortments of films in recent memory.
The films already released are all over the spectrum of quality. Some are good, some are egregious, some are forgettable and some are just flat-out baffling. Luckily, Francis Lawrence’s “The Long Walk” (2025) fits in the “good” category of 2025 cinema.
For those unfamiliar, “The Long Walk” follows the simple yet compelling journey of a group of teenage boys as they compete in a debilitating high-stakes contest where they must continually walk at least three miles per hour until the last man is standing. If they stop for too long, then they are fatally shot by a member of their military escort.
The film is actually based on a novel of the same name by legendary author Stephen King. “The Long Walk” is more or less in line with other King adaptations, such as “Stand by Me” (1986), “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) and “The Green Mile” (1999).
The plot is literally a straight line from beginning to end. In the hands of a different set of filmmakers, this film could have been much worse with the presentation of its story.
Thankfully, the direction of Lawrence and the sharp script from J.T. Mollner make for what could be an otherwise boring plot into one of the best thrillers this year. What also ascends the film to a higher level of enjoyment is the cast of young men the audience gets to walk along with from start to finish.
Cooper Hoffman plays Raymond “Ray” Garraty, while David Jonsson plays Peter McVries. Similar to Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and Red’s (Morgan Freeman) friendship in “The Shawshank Redemption,” Ray and Peter are what make the film work.
The relationship between Ray and Peter is one of the best modern portrayals of male friendship in film. Hoffman and Jonsson naturally play off of each other when they are in character.
Hoffman, son of the late and great Philip Seymour Hoffman, was last seen as Dick Ebersol in Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” (2024). On the other hand, Jonsson became more mainstream for his role as the synthetic Andy Carradine in Fede Alvarez’s “Alien: Romulus” (2024).
Both men have shown cinephiles that they are a part of the future when it comes to iconic performances in killer movies. It is a duo that wouldn’t work properly if either one of them were not cast in the film.
For that matter, all of the other actors who participate in the long walk do a splendid job despite not having as much screen time compared to the two leads. Actor Tut Nyuot plays Arthur Baker, and he delivers a strong enough performance that will make viewers fall in love with him.
Charlie Plummer plays the annoying and ill-tempered Gary Barkovitch. At first glance, Barkovitch could easily be the secondary antagonist to Mark Hamill, but he’s given more nuance after he is blamed for the death of another contestant.
Hamill plays the Major, a ruthless and cunning villain who is always looming in the background and has a more personal connection to Ray. If there’s any downside to his performance, it would be that Hamill does not get enough to do as the Major. Most of the time, he is simply standing and commanding orders to the teenage boys. It would have been nice if he had been given two or more scenes to shine.
Besides the film’s many scenes of tension and stellar characters, where it excels the most is how human it truly is. A lot of adaptations of King’s work vary depending on the director. However, the common denominator in all of these adaptations is that the ones that focus solely on telling a human story, rather than having a supernatural element, are often the best.
“The Long Walk” certainly accomplishes that. If by any chance the person reading this review likes to watch a solid film now and then, do yourself a favor and watch this film.
Rating: 4/5
