By Drew Dietsch | Published
The long walk is my second favorite Stephen King novel after his horror opus, He. I remember reading the dystopian novel in the 5th year and thought: “It would make an incredible film if they adapted it correctly.” I have been waiting for a cinematographic version for almost three decades of my life. It almost happened several times, once with Shawshank redemption And The green mile Director Frank Darabont. When this version died on the vine, I had above all abandoned the idea that a faithful cinematographic adaptation would never be produced.
Fortunately, after putting your stamp on the interruption “inspired by The long walk»Series of Hunger games The consequences, the director Francis Lawrence with the scriptwriter JT Mollner, did what I never thought to see: bringing the dark and brutal story to the screen in a way that feels well in conformity with the soul of the novel.
It is undenished to deny that The long walk is one of the best films of the year that many people will not want to see. This is why it is so vital that it is seen.
Walk or die for this dying country
It is impossible to shake up how The long walkA story Stephen King began to write in the first year of college in 1966, always feels so painfully relevant in 2025. The premise is simple: America was left aimless after a debilitating war, and in order to keep the dream (read: Lies) of living America, a fascist government led by an unnamed major (Mark Hamill in a piece of perfect casting) Marche marathon for young men in the country. There is no finish line. Everyone walks until they fall below a certain speed, and if they do not accept the pace after three warnings, they are executed by soulless soldiers. A single boy can be left standing and his price is inexpressible riches and a wish that the government grants.
This concept of the long march is considered by the fascist major as a celebration of America. If you continue to walk, you can win! Just stop these boots, boys. It is as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. This insidious idea is at the heart of the scathing commentary on the film on America. Whether it is the specificity of the army being nothing more than a machine that is based on the murder of children, or the idea greater than the American dream is a carrot that was sworn in front of all, criticism here is as subtle as the balls that you will see through the brain of so many boys.
Hard truths have left bleeding on the sidewalk
But that’s what I found so powerful The long walk When I read it for the first time like a boy: it puts hard truths on America directly in your face, knowing that you don’t want to look at them. Stephen King wanted to tell a speculative story that exposed all the villains of America in a way that emphasized their austere horror. As Homer had a clearly Ulysses index, “war is that young men die and old people spoke.” If a modern tale captures this in amber, it is The long walk.
All this hard honesty is anchored by a cast of young actors who will break your heart if you have one, because it is clear that we live in a time when empathy is labeled by the monsters that run the world. Seeing these boys tie friendships in the middle of a system condemned to kill them for his own propaganda is heartbreaking to the extreme. I was sobbing more than a few moments where some characters “get their ticket” even if I knew that their fate was sealed from the start of the film. It is a testimony to their performances and the scenario that I wanted them to live, even if I knew that it was never a possibility.
Look, The long walk is the kind of film difficult to recommend because most people do not want the films to face them. They just want the funny person to do a funny thing or two lovers like like loving lovers, or to see the spacecraft make space because it looks cool, or see the right guy beat the villain and think that this is how the world really works. It is a deliberately punishing story that tries to get angry and to disgust what America is really. This is how I felt the reading of King’s novel about all these years as a boy even younger as the protagonists, and the film had the same effect on me as an adult living in a country that looks more and more like The long walk every day.
Hold your close friends. Continue walking. F *** the major.
