.jpg.webp)
Based on a 1979 novel of Stephen King, the participants are all young men chosen to participate via a lottery system. They all have different reasons for joining the walk, though the prize money helps. McVries (David Jonsson) dreams of using the money to make the world a better place. Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) seeks revenge on the Major (Mark Hamill).
The premise is an interesting one, but there are moments where it gets old as the walk goes on. There is only so much that can happen when the most likely outcome is death.
That being said, the film is in the hands of a very capable director. Francis Lawrence has directed five of the Hunger Games films. He knows how to show the deaths of young people who are forced to participate in events that are for the supposed good of the country.
Although I can't tell you what good the long walk does for the country. There are mentions of a war and the honor it is to be picked to participate in the event, but otherwise the film doesn't really explain how this event came to be and why it is necessary for it to exist.
We are given flashbacks from Garraty's point of view that explain why he seeks revenge. In these flashbacks it is revealed that there are certain thinkers that are illegal to review, but beyond that I'm not sure why it is so dangerous to study Nietzsche or Kierkegaard. The main focus of the story is the brutality of the walk and King insisted that it be graphic.
The best part of the film comes from the bond formed by four of the boys. It gives you something to root for and against in the form of the bullies that are inevitably found.
This bond is also a welcome distraction from all the blood and gore found in this film. King himself has stated he didn't want the film to shy away from the violence despite there being teenage boys amongst the ranks of the participants. The graphic nature of the film proved to be too much for me at one point and I wished we didn't need to see every single gruesome aspect.
The film is two hours long and while I did enjoy it, I feel like the film could have been slightly shorter. The action all takes place on the road and knowing that everyone except one person must die, it gets repetitive.
Mark Hamill is unsurprisingly a perfect major. He's cold and intimidating. The biggest issue with his casting is that there is simply not enough of him in the film.
A standout performance for me was David Jonsson as McVries. McVries has lived through a lot and despite the things he has gone through, he still chooses to see the beauty in life and believes he has the ability to change the laws if he wins. Cooper Hoffman is also fantastic as Garraty. Garraty is the character we get ti know the most and Hoffman is able to fill Garraty with enough hope underneath his anger, that you can see him grow from beginning to end.
The Long Walk is brutal and while the graphic nature made it difficult for me to watch at times, it truly found a way to make you legitimately care about every single one of the characters. You experience the pain and embarrassments they do. The blood, the crap, the sickness... it's all there.
I truly wish it was fleshed out more why a war caused the long walk to be created. I wish we had gotten to know the details of the USA of the film came to be and why things came to be banned. While some may say that we may be headed that way now, we still need something in the film to anchor the walk's existence.
That paired with the graphic nature of the film are my biggest complaints. I reached a point where I couldn't enjoy the film anymore because I couldn't stand to see one more gruesome thing happen. Orlando reached a point where he was completely desensitized and while the characters in the film make a point to say they never hope to be desensitized by the deaths of those around them, he did and I don't think the filmmakers would want the audience to reach that point either.
The film premieres on September 12, but I won tickets to an advanced screening courtesy of Scribner Books!
