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For those unfamiliar with the story, The Long Walk is set in an alternate version of 1970's America where the country has fallen into economic ruin following an unnamed war 20+ years earlier, and a totalitarian military dictatorship led by "The Major" (Mark Hamill) has replaced democracy. To "inspire" America to "get back to work" during these challenging times, the state hosts an annual competition called "The Long Walk"-in which 1 man from each of the 50 states are chosen via a voluntary lottery system to partake in a grueling long-distance walk. The rules for The Long Walk are simple: 1.Each competitor must maintain a speed of 3 miles per hour for the duration of the walk. If they fall below 3 miles per hour, they'll receive 3 warnings to get their speed back up to 3 miles per hour (a warning is erased if the competitor maintains their speed for an hour straight). If they fail to do so, they're executed on the spot by the military convoy that's driving slowly alongside them. 2.If the competitor leaves the road, attacks the convoy, etc., they're executed on the spot. 3.There's no finish line or stopping to sleep, use the restroom, eat or drink (rations of food and water are provided at the beginning of the walk) etc. once the walk begins and the walk concludes when there's only 1 man left standing. The trade-off for these men risking their lives to participate in a contest that is designed to slowly break down the minds and bodies of its participants is the alluring prize: An undisclosed large sum of cash and the granting of any wish they could possibly conceive. At the start of the film, we're introduced to some of the competitors including Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), Peter McVries (David Jonsson), Gary Barktovich (Charlie Plummer), Billy Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot) and Hank Olson (Ben Wang) mere minutes before The Long Walk begins. What transpires after the starting gun starts off is the best and worst of what humanity has to offer and will provide the survivor with memories they'll never be shake for the rest of their days.
Particularly over the last 10-15 years or so, there's been no shortage of movies portraying dystopian hellscape societies where fascist governments make desperate citizens endure tremendous suffering for their own amusement instead of simply providing them with the life of dignity they deserve. What separates The Long Walk from many films of its ilk is with how it elects to portray its world. There's a brutality and cruelty on display here (I'll spare the specifics to preserve the shock value, so let's just say the R-rating is well-earned) that provides an uncompromisingly harrowing backdrop that makes the evil on display feel particularly gut-wrenching and urgent. At the same time, there are these little glimmers of hope that sneak in from time to time to remind the audience that not even the direst circumstances can fully crush the beautiful parts of the human spirit that allow us to show empathy and make meaningful connections with each other. Pulling off a nuanced balancing act that doesn't sugarcoat the boundless evil of a society that brings such horrible violence upon its own citizens but also never fully gives into the bleakness of its world is an incredible feat that conveys the importance of holding out hope even when all seems lost.
Adding to The Long Walk's effective take on this well-worn subgenre is the strength of the character work-particularly in its showing of the special bond that builds between Ray and Peter over the many, many miles they spend walking alongside each other. Mollner's script does an incredible job of always centering humanity in this bleak world of despair. Of course, There's selfishness, anger, guilt and just about every other ugly emotion that tends to come rushing out when someone is put in a high leverage, high stress scenario where they're fighting for their life. But there's also a tremendous amount of compassion, love and respect that builds between these men as they share the struggles that led them to signing up for The Long Walk and it's the weight of the relationships that form that makes many of the deaths here so fucking devastating. There are quite a few scenes that are just brutal to endure because it's so apparent that these characters are trying their best to keep each other alive but are ultimately rendered powerless to the harsh reality of the circumstances their reality has provided them with. People on the lower rungs of humanity's socioeconomic ladder doing anything they can to try and save the lives of another person going through a similar struggle but ultimately not being able to help them through no fault of their own and being forced to solider on amongst the near relentless devastation is one hell of an effective metaphor for the life that many of us on Earth are living that The Long Walk conveys with blunt force and the tremendous heart present in the performances of these men that were tasked were bringing these doomed souls to life is a huge reason for achieving that power.
I was so alternately shaken and moved by The Long Walk that I was ready to declare it a top 3 movie of 2025... until the last 5 minutes happened. The ending makes total sense from an impulsive human behavior standpoint and is tonally consistent with the rest of the film, I guess I was just hoping for a bigger emotional crescendo based on everything that transpired before those final moments. Slight late game stumbles aside, The Long Walk remains a true triumph of raw, human-driven storytelling that will definitely rank highly on my year-end list.
Grade: A-
