The Long Walk - Review: One Foot in Front of the Other

 

While most know him as a master of suspense and horrors, Steven King is also a writer easily known for tales that wrench guts with emotions as much as they do with... actual guts. While plenty know him for “Carrie,” “Cujo,” “It,”” or “Pet Semetary,” plenty also know him as the mind behind “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” or “Stand by Me.” While not the first work of his published, the first work King ever wrote way back in 1966 was “The Long Walk,” a grueling work combining both his coming-of-age emotional pathos and his gruesome violent horror skills. And up until now, it was one of the few works of his to not have a film adaptation.

Set in a future after the second American Civil War, the film follows a group of boys, including Ray Garraty, played by Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza,” “Saturday Night”), Peter McVries, played by David Jonsson (“Rye Lane,” “Alien: Romulus”), Billy Stebbins, played by Garrett Wareing (“Ransom County,” “Manifest”), Arthur Baker, played by Tut Nyuot (“Dark Money,” “Steve”), Gary Barkovitch, played by Charlie Plummer (“All the Money in the World,” “Looking for Alaska”), and Hank Olson, played by Ben Wang (“American Born Chinese,” “Karate Kid: Legends”), as they participate in the yearly Long Walk, led by The Major, played by Mark Hamill (“Star Wars: A New Hope,” “Batman: The Animated Series”). The competition sees one boy from each state volunteer to walk until only one remains, with the winner receiving monetary riches and one wish of anything they desire. However, each must maintain a speed of 3 miles per hour at all times, receiving only three warnings for stopping or slowing. After the third warning, they are shot dead with no exception.

Regardless of your opinions on the material, Hoffman and Jonsson’s chemistry and performances are absolutely incredible. Hoffman’s everyman stylings mix wonderfully with his innate charm and selflessness to create a protagonist that feels unpredictable. Even as he’s telling us what he will or won’t do, his character’s evolution makes his journey a fascinating one to watch. Jonsson meanwhile has a calmer, wiser approach to his character, which makes him endlessly enjoyable to watch. When they bounce off each other, volleying lines and thoughts like ping-pong balls, it's a completely captivating experience. This chemistry extends to the rest of their castmates as well, as each boy manages to perfectly encapsulate their own archetypes while branching just enough outside of them to keep things interesting. It’s easy to fall in love with each of the walkers, and even those that feel too despicable to care for, they’re nevertheless completely engrossing.

Given director Francis Lawrence’s (“I Am Legend,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”) experience with other violent dystopian films centering around teens, it’s easy to imagine this material being a repeat of his previous works. However, his direction not only stands in stark difference to those previous works, but the script by JT Mollner (“Outlaws and Angels,” “Strange Darling”) works especially hard to ground this material in a believable feeling of reality. Despite their circumstances, these kids feel believably like they could’ve been plucked right out of any modern high school. They joke, they rib, they cry, they fight, and each passing mile draws you further into their plight. It’s a poisoned chalice of a film, as the very concept means only one kid will make it to the end, with Lawrence and Mollner using that slow dread to ample effect.

Lawrence’s experience with a pseudo-post apocalypse not only works with the script, but the visuals of the film as well. This is a low-budget affair, especially by modern Hollywood standards, and Lawrence and cinematographer Jo Willems (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “His House”) both use the journey as a showcase for mid-western American landscapes. There are all manner of small towns put on display, for better or worse, and numerous sequences in the pouring nighttime rain, illuminated with mobile spotlights, are just breathtaking. It’s an almost impossible task to shoot a film like this, with nothing but walking, and make it something interesting to look at. Willems camerawork is a quiet and gorgeous portrait of some otherwise down-trodden American scenery, and the fantastic musical score by first time composer, and co-founder of the band The Lumineers, Jeremiah Fraites is the cherry on top.

Ironically, the basic concept of the film does lead into one of the film’s lesser aspects. Obviously, given the nature of the subject material, one should expect some gruesome visuals and uncomfortable violence. But there’s a stark shift halfway through the film. After the mid-point, the violence becomes more thoughtful and harrowing. Prior to that, there’s almost a sense of over-indulgence, as if the first elimination is meant to be a “woah look at how cool and gruesome this is” moment, which stands in stark difference to the film’s central themes. Likewise, the film pulls no punches in the grosser moments one might expect from a tale like this but that might be considered “unfilmable.” Given that these kids simply can’t stop, it shows the trials of that journey warts and all. Your mileage will definitely vary with those aspects.

“The Long Walk” might not be many’s first choice for a Stephen King adaptation. Hell, King himself even said he thought it would never be made given the subject matter. But with a writer and director committed to telling this tale in a deeply heartfelt and genuine way, with a game cast led by two powerhouse performances, they’ve turned it into something special. It’s certainly still a violent, unsettling, and grim tale. But they find that beauty and humanity in the core of it, putting it on display to great effect. 4.5/5