The Long Walk is a dystopian thriller film released in theaters on September 12, 2025. The film is an adaptation of the novel by beloved author Stephen King, best known for his stories such as It, The Shining, and Stand By Me (the film adaptation of The Body). The movie is rated R for strong violence, inappropriate language, and grisly images with an official runtime of 1 hour and 48 minutes.

The film follows 100 young men who are forced to walk for as long as they can as part of an annual contest to see who will win “the prize”, which is anything their heart desires. But there’s a catch. If someone falls below the speed of three miles per hour, that person receives a warning. After three warnings, all of the boys risk getting shot at by officers in military tanks. Trigger warning: the film contains very graphic and gruesome depictions of torture, insanity, and physical suffering.

My expectations were very high going into this movie. I cannot explain how invested I was throughout the whole movie, more than I expected to be. As intense as some scenes were, there was also a numerous number of wholesome scenes between the characters, particularly the main character Raymond (Ray) Garraty (who was played by Cooper Hoffman) and one of the boys he becomes closest with named Peter McVries (who was played by David Jonsson).

I particularly liked the character of Peter, who was a positive light surrounding the dark context of the movie. Peter was willing to risk his life in order to save his friends and give them the opportunity to live. He was a very likeable character because of his can-do attitude and his willingness to step in and help the others if they start to fall behind or were given a warning. Peter’s character represents hope and resilience during dark times, which can be especially relevant in today’s society. 

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this movie was, for the most part, they cast actors that are lesser known. In my opinion, the film was perfectly cast–each actor bringing their character to life in a different way.I was surprised at how attached I became to the characters, especially during some of their final moments because throughout the movie you really get to know the characters like they are real people. 

This was the first Stephen King film that I have seen, and I look forward to watching more of his movies in the future. The film was extremely intense and honestly a bit disturbing at times due to the violence and gore. 

In an interview with Slashfilm.com, Francis Laurence, director of The Long Walk said, “I did worry a little bit in the very beginning about how I shoot these guys, how I block them, how do you shoot them walking, talking, doing all these things. And what I realized that the important thing is in this, again, is the camaraderie, as it’s the heart of the story. … I have to really focus on the characters and what the characters are going through physically, psychologically, emotionally with one another, seeing the degradation over time and over days and after nights and when the group’s whittling away.”

This film relates a lot to today’s society and expectations that young people will abide by what they’ve been told and risk facing the consequences if they fight against those in power. This is relatable to today’s society and the current state of the world due to its commentary on the pressures of society and the way propaganda influences society. The movie explores the theme of how maintaining endurance can push people to succeed in ways they did not expect. This movie no doubt has received a five-star rating from me. I would highly recommend going to see The Long Walk in theaters if you have the chance, I promise it is worth every penny.