There’s a long history of movies being adapted from Stephen King’s writing. In fact, a new one just hit theaters, titled The Long Walk. Stephen King movies vary greatly in quality, from some of the best movies ever made like The Shining to some that have reached the top of some bad movie night lists like Sleepwalkers. Let’s see where The Long Walk falls in that long movie library.

The Good

The Long Walk tells an emotional tale that will both pull at the heartstrings and inspire audiences. It’s a powerful story that touches on the loss of innocence, trauma, and the bond we form when going through shared experiences. It also encourages audiences to think about how they can change what’s wrong with the world they live in and to have hope despite things being quite bad. It encourages people to embrace the good parts of life, no matter how small. It somehow blends somber and hopeful tones to tell a beautiful, inspiring, and thought-provoking story.

A movie that’s almost entirely characters walking in a straight line is challenging to make interesting, but it truly is here. That’s heavily due to the incredibly impressive performances from the cast. While everyone involved, including Mark Hamill and Judy Greer, is fantastic, it’s Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson who carry this film. Their powerful performances are moving, grounded, and pull the audience in. They deserve many nominations and awards for their acting talent in this movie.

Another element that makes this such a captivating movie despite it literally being about walking is how well-written the dialogue is. It feels organic and real, like how actual people would talk and about topics actual people would talk about. It accomplishes this while also providing a lot of the film’s emotional weight.

It’s also nice to see how certain characters grow throughout the course of the story, for better or worse. Those who grow for the worse emphasize the terrible world and situation they’re in. The ones who grow for the better make the audience feel hopeful and have satisfying arcs. It’s genuinely interesting to see how each character will grow throughout the course of the film.

The movie is shot gorgeously. It looks spectacular while still capturing the somber tone the filmmakers were going for. Even the shots with the most minimal background and setting details tell you all you need to know about this world, and it’s all extremely impressive.

The Bad

Some of the side characters were clearly meant to be cared about a lot by the audience. When their time came for them to exit the Long Walk, it was sad, but it could have been much more impactful. This is because they didn’t get the screentime they needed to feel truly impactful. Many of their demises were genuinely sad because of how much we cared about them. Others really needed more time to earn that emotion.

This is likely due to the source material, or at least because of this being the only true way to adapt it, but the story does feel repetitive at times. One could suppose that it’s to be expected with a story like this, but there were a few times later in the film when some things started to feel a little tired after seeing them enough times throughout. 

Conclusion

The Long Walk is an incredibly powerful film that makes the audience question the world they live in and encourages them to speak up against tyranny and search for ways to make the world better. It manages to be sad and hopeful at the same time. It’s smart, emotional, and captivating. It’s well-acted, well-shot, and well-written. Plus, there are plenty of jaw-dropping surprises throughout. There are some minor issues, but they hardly hurt the movie as a whole. It’s a movie everyone should see when they can. It’s sure to sit with them for a long time after viewing it.

Rating: 9.5 / 10

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