The Long Walk Movie Review !!Spoilers Ahead!!
Stephen King is considered by many one of the best horror authors of all time and over the years many of his stories have been turned into films. His most recent work brought to the big screen was The Long Walk, which was released on September 12th, 2025, forty-seven years after the book was first published in 1978 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The Long Walk joins It, Pet Sematary, The Shining, and a long list of Stephen King novels that are now movies.
The movie was directed by Francis Lawrence and starred a cast lead by Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot and Ben Wang. However, the biggest name of the cast was Mark Hamill who played the antagonist in a role very contrary of Luke Skywalkers character. Most of the main actors in this film have a short list of previous movies but the reviews from this film could open the door for other opportunities in the future. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 90% on the Tomatometer and IMDb rated it a 7.4/10.
The Long Walk is set in a dystopian United States where people have been groomed by the government, media and past generations of their family that entertainment is watching people die. The fact that this is not normal and not right is brought up multiple times throughout the film by the protagonist. The atmosphere of the film felt very similar to the atmosphere in the film based on George Orwell’s book, 1984. In both films the lighting is always dimmed, and the world is a dirty place. Another comparison between the two films is the censorship of media, and the harsh punishments for disobeying these rules. Another film The Long Walk shares a lot of comparisons with is The Hunger Games. Both films take place in a dystopian world and share a similar plot, having a contest to receive much needed resources and aid, and winning this contest by being the last one standing.
This film is filled with violence and gore; however, it is more a physiological horror film than anything else. The scenarios the participants are put in slowly start to break them mentally and physically throughout the film and starts to make you wonder what you would do being put in these situations.
The ending of The Long Walk brings a lot of questions and ended very vaguely. It is left for the viewer to interpret what happens as the screen goes dark. I feel Pete was killed as soon as he murdered The Major, and he is walking into the afterlife, which takes a piece of Ray, Arthur and Petes story. Killing the Major was going to be Rays wish, Arthur was very religious, and walking into an afterlife could be a nod to him and Pete just keeps on walking which he states he’s been doing his whole life. This is not stated in the film, but this is how I interpreted the ending.
The acting is one of the strongest points of the film, however the dialogue at times could’ve been better. The character development really shows how much they change from when they first meet each other to the end and how much they are affected throughout the film’s physical and mental tortures. The Direction and the atmosphere were also strong points and of course, the story was one of the best there is, coming from Stephen King.