The Long Walk (2025 film): Difference between revisions

 

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As the walk progresses, Garraty reveals why he signed up to McVries; he wants to wish for a [[carbine]] and use it assassinate the Major, as revenge for executing his father for political opposition. McVries tries to talk him out of it, and confesses that when he’s too tired to keep walking he intends to stop and wait to die.

As the walk progresses, Garraty reveals why he signed up to McVries; he wants to wish for a [[carbine]] and use it assassinate the Major, as revenge for executing his father for political opposition. McVries tries to talk him out of it, and confesses that when he’s too tired to keep walking he intends to stop and wait to die.

More walkers die over the next several days. Olson becomes delirious and attempts to attack the soldiers, who shoot him down and let him slowly bleed out as punishment. The next morning, the boys learn that Olson was married and agree the winner should give some of the prize money to his widow. Riddled with guilt over Rank’s death, Barkovitch begs Garraty to accept him into the group. Garraty agrees, and Barkovitch stops walking as a form of suicide shortly after.

More walkers die over the next several days. Olson becomes delirious and attempts to attack the soldiers, who shoot him down and let him slowly bleed out as punishment. The next morning, the boys learn that Olson was married and agree the winner should give some of the prize money to his widow. Riddled with guilt over Rank’s death, Barkovitch begs Garraty to accept him into the group. Garraty agrees, and Barkovitch shortly after.

Eventually only Garraty, McVries, Stebbins, Baker, and Parker remain. Stebbins, who’s fallen ill, persuades the others not to help each other anymore, so as not to prolong things. While walking through a town, Garraty spots his mother watching and is almost executed trying to get to her, until McVries pulls him away.

Eventually only Garraty, McVries, Stebbins, Baker, and Parker remain. Stebbins, who’s fallen ill, persuades the others not to help each other anymore, so as not to prolong things. While walking through a town, Garraty spots his mother watching and is almost executed trying to get to her, until McVries pulls him away.

2025 film by Francis Lawrence

The Long Walk is a 2025 American dystopian survival thriller film co-produced and directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by JT Mollner. It is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Stephen King (under his pseudonym Richard Bachman). The film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.

The Long Walk was released in the United States by Lionsgate on September 12, 2025. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, praising its story and performances, particularly from Hoffman and Jonsson.

In a dystopian version of America ruled by a totalitarian regime, there’s an annual event known as “The Long Walk,” where fifty boys selected from a pool of volunteers must walk continuously along a road or else be executed, until only one remains. Walkers receive three penalties for dropping below 3 MPH before they’re shot dead, though they can lose one penalty for each hour they go without gaining another. The survivor is granted a cash prize and one wish fulfilled.

Raymond “Ray” Garraty arrives at the starting line and meets the other forty-nine participants, including Peter McVries, Billy Stebbins, Arthur Baker, Collie Parker, Gary Barkovitch and Hank Olson, along with The Major, who’s there to oversee the event.

During the first day, Garraty gets to know the other walkers and forms a close bond with McVries. A boy named Curley is the first to be killed, after he develops a charley horse in his leg and can’t maintain the minimum speed. Barkovitch is shunned by the group for provoking another walker named Rank into attacking him, resulting in his immediate execution.

As the walk progresses, Garraty reveals why he signed up to McVries; he wants to wish for a carbine and use it assassinate the Major, as revenge for executing his father for political opposition. McVries tries to talk him out of it, and confesses that when he’s too tired to keep walking he intends to stop and wait to die.

More walkers die over the next several days. Olson becomes delirious and attempts to attack the soldiers, who shoot him down and let him slowly bleed out as punishment. The next morning, the boys learn that Olson was married and agree the winner should give some of the prize money to his widow. Riddled with guilt over Rank’s death, Barkovitch begs Garraty to accept him into the group. Garraty agrees, and Barkovitch stabs himself to death with a spoon shortly after.

Eventually only Garraty, McVries, Stebbins, Baker, and Parker remain. Stebbins, who’s fallen ill, persuades the others not to help each other anymore, so as not to prolong things. While walking through a town, Garraty spots his mother watching and is almost executed trying to get to her, until McVries pulls him away.

Parker manages to steal a guard’s rifle, shoot the man, and then turns it on himself. Baker develops internal hemorrhaging and decides to stop walking. Stebbins’ sickness worsens and, realizing he’ll never win in his condition, he reveals to Garraty and McVries why he chose to join the walk; he’s the Major’s bastard son, and intended to use his wish to force the man to accept him. He then tells Garraty and McVries it was an honor to walk with them, before he stops and allows himself to be killed, leaving them as the final two walkers.

The pair arrives at a town, where a crowd has gathered to see who wins. McVries intentionally sits down, only for Garraty to pick him up and encourage him to keep going. He does so, failing to notice that Garraty himself has now stopped walking. The Major executes Garraty and congratulates McVries for winning. When asked what his wish is, McVries requests one of the guards’ carbines and shoots the Major dead, before continuing to walk down the road.

In 1988, George A. Romero was considered to direct the film adaptation, but it never came to fruition.^[6] By 2007, Frank Darabont had secured the rights to the film adaptation of the novel.^[7] He said that he would “get to it one day”. He planned to make it low-budget and stated, “It’ll be weird, existential and very contained”.^[8] In April 2018, New Line Cinema was set to adapt a film based on the novel, with James Vanderbilt attached to write and produce the film along with Bradley Fischer and William Sherak through their Mythology Entertainment banner.^[9] In May 2019, it was announced that André Øvredal would direct the adaptation.^[10]

By November 2023, the film was to be produced by Lionsgate Films with Francis Lawrence directing from a screenplay by JT Mollner.^[11] On June 10, 2024, Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson joined the cast.^[12] On taking the part of a young character who lost a father like Hoffman had himself, Hoffman said: “When your trauma is on display for the world, there’s no actually hiding it. I’m like, I might as well talk about it, or, I might as well put it into something. Because if I keep hiding it and running from it, that’s not fair to anyone else who has gone through that. I’m here to display this person and this experience as honestly as I can, and hopefully someone else watches it and goes, he sees me, he understands me. And that’s, in my opinion, the only reason to do any sort of art.”^[13] The next month, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Izabella Raven, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Roman Griffin Davis, Mark Hamill, and Judy Greer joined the cast.^[14][15]

Principal photography began on July 24, 2024, in Winnipeg, and was expected to wrap by September 12.^[14][16]

Jeremiah Fraites had composed the score for the film by March 2025.^[17]

The Long Walk was released in the United States by Lionsgate on September 12, 2025.^[18]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 175 critics’ reviews are positive. The website’s consensus reads: “Cooper Hoffman and David Johnsson’s soulful performances bring a lot of heart to Stephen King’s dystopian tale, making The Long Walk a life-or-death ordeal for its characters but a riveting ride for audiences.”^[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.^[20]