FILM REVIEW: Stephen King’s The Long Walk

A Walk to Remember

10,000 steps. A number that has become synonymous with health, longevity, and the “cure” for any personal pains. If you walk this number of steps per day, your chances of increasing your lifespan continue to go up. 10,000 steps, on average, is 5 miles. The characters in The Long Walk course along 300 miles at around a 3 mph pace. A lottery-based game that rewards those who make it through, with the cost of 49 lives along the way. All in the name of service to the United States of America.

A story written by Stephen King in response to the Draft during the Vietnam War, this iteration takes a more precise aim at contemporary moods across the political landscape. Its violence is brutal and confrontational, while its thematic ambitions remain calm and steady throughout the 108-minute runtime. This contrast, along with hyper-realistic acting from all its players, provides the groundwork for a film that gut-punches you into remembering it for days. The confrontational tone provides that punch, and the existential conversations provide the resonance that will bruise and make you stronger. Is it not the reason The Long Walk exists?

Standing outside the movie theater before seeing The Long Walk

Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman – excellent) is one of the boys who signs up for The Long Walk. This game is a test of endurance made up by The Major (Mark Hamill – excellent) to showcase how far the human spirit can go in the face of unrealistic challenges. Each of the 50 players (one from every state) has to walk at a certain pace, or else get shot and die. The entire plot is them walking on the road, unsurprisingly. Along the way, Raymond meets a wonderful cast of characters, including Peter McVries (David Jonsson – excellent). Along the way these men discuss life while continuously facing death at every step. Last person standing wins the whole game.

Sound familiar? It probably did to Francis Lawrence as well. The Hunger Games director lands in very similar territory as the first film of that franchise. He understands the movie’s strength has to lie within the characters’ conversations. It is frankly a strength of many Stephen King stories (It and Stand By Me come to mind). The character “triumphs” come from sadness and the thought of being forced by their own will to sign up for this game. Ray’s mother (Judy Greer – excellent) even asks why her son would sign up for this. It is because it is “implied” you should. The whole system is set up like this and is so engrained in society that you cannot blame any individuals for wanting to just go along with it. Survival is the key, step by step.

It cannot be overstated how imperative these acting performances are to the success of this film. Each boy comes in with their own trauma and challenges. One has a broken arm, another a faulty leg. A friend of mine theorized this is how people show up after trauma. I like that theory, however sad it may be.

Another great achievement is the music. Composed by Jeremiah Fraites (of The Lumineers), the score swells high into the clouds, then remains there. It allows the more profound discussions to take center stage without over-saturating the emotions. Then you have the editing by Mark Yoshikawa and Peggy Eghbalian, which not only shows you the brutality of the Walk, but makes you a passive participant in it. There is a purpose to the violence and there is also purpose to pushing forward from that violence. Life goes on because it has to.

That 10,000 number is sticking with me again. Many people choose to do this on a daily basis. Heck, I do even more for my marathon training! It is the choice part that separates the longevity with the longevity discussed in the film. A basic human operation for most weaponized against each other all for continued national pride. If people began to be told that if you walked 10,000 steps a day you would be guaranteed life but someone has to die, I see the moral challenge. It is easy to go along with things when Survival is on the line. Not simply Health Survival, either. The Long Walk made me thankful I even had a choice to take a step, then stop and smell the roses.