Fifty teenage boys start walking down a rural road. If any of them drops below three miles per hour for too long, a soldier shoots him. Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of The Long Walk is out now, and I think it’s the meanest, saddest Stephen King movie in years.
Key Takeaways
– The Long Walk (2025) adapts King’s 1979 novel, first published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman.
– Francis Lawrence directs from a script by JT Mollner. Lionsgate released it in theaters on September 12, 2025.
– Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson lead. Mark Hamill plays the Major.
– It’s rated R for strong, bloody violence. It is not a Hunger Games for younger teens.
– My verdict: a punishing, beautifully acted film that earns its brutality.
My Verdict Up Top
This is a two-hander dressed as a dystopia. The real story is the friendship between Ray Garraty (Hoffman) and Peter McVries (Jonsson). Everything else is a road, a tank, and a clock.
It works because Lawrence trusts that setup. There’s no arena, no sponsors, no makeover montage. Just boys talking, limping, and dying.
I left it wrung out. That’s the point.
Key Specs
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Director | Francis Lawrence |
| Screenplay | JT Mollner |
| Based on | The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 1979 |
| Studio | Lionsgate |
| US release | September 12, 2025 (theatrical) |
| Rating | R |
| Runtime | About 1 hour 48 minutes |
| Lead cast | Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Ben Wang, Charlie Plummer, Garrett Wareing |
From the Flap: What the Book Is About
King wrote The Long Walk as a college student at the University of Maine in the late 1960s. It sat in a drawer for years. Signet finally published it as a paperback original in 1979, under the Bachman name.
The premise is simple. Every year, 100 boys enter the Long Walk. They must keep a pace of four miles per hour. Three warnings, then you “get your ticket.” The last one standing wins the Prize: anything he wants, for life.
King never fully explains the America around it. There’s a militarized state, a crowd that cheers the deaths, and a figure called the Major. The book reads like a Vietnam-era nightmare about sending young men off to die for a spectacle.
Bachman was King’s way of publishing more books than his publisher wanted. The pen name was exposed in 1985 by a Washington, D.C. bookstore clerk named Steve Brown, who spotted the overlap in copyright records.
What the Movie Changes
Mollner’s script trims the field from 100 walkers to 50. It also drops the pace from four miles per hour to three. Both changes keep the cast manageable and the scenes readable.
The Prize gets a tweak too. In the film, the winner also receives a single wish. It’s a small change that pays off in the story.
The final stretch departs from the novel. I won’t spoil it. Book readers will argue about it, and they should. I think the new ending is more emotionally direct. Some readers will prefer the book’s cold, dazed fadeout.
The Performances
Cooper Hoffman plays Garraty as a quiet kid carrying a private grudge. Hoffman broke out in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza (2021). Here he’s more guarded, and it suits him.
David Jonsson is the film’s heartbeat. If you saw him in Alien: Romulus (2024) or the British indie Rye Lane (2023), you know his warmth. As McVries, he makes optimism feel like an act of defiance.
Mark Hamill is terrifying as the Major. He barely raises his voice. Mirrored sunglasses, a gravelly bark, total calm. It’s his best live-action villain turn.
Judy Greer gets limited screen time as Ray’s mother. She makes every second count.
The supporting walkers matter too. Ben Wang brings comic energy as Hank Olson. Charlie Plummer is grimly effective as the hated Barkovitch. Garrett Wareing plays Stebbins, the loner who seems to know more than he says.
Pros and Cons
What works
– Hoffman and Jonsson have real, lived-in chemistry.
– Lawrence keeps the frame tight and grounded. The walking feels physical.
– Hamill is chilling without overplaying it.
– The violence has weight. Nobody dies cheaply.
– It’s faithful to the book’s mood, even where it changes events.
What doesn’t
– The world-building is thin. If you want lore, you won’t get much.
– Some walkers blur together in the middle stretch.
– The repetition is intentional, but a few scenes sag.
– The gore will be too much for some viewers.
Who It’s For
I’d recommend it to King readers who love his bleaker, non-supernatural work. Think Misery, The Mist, or the darker corners of Different Seasons.
It’s also for anyone who liked Lawrence’s Hunger Games films but wanted them rawer. He directed Catching Fire and the rest of that franchise through The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023). This is the R-rated cousin.
Skip it if you want jump scares. There’s no monster here. If your King comfort zone is Tim Curry’s Pennywise in the 1990 It miniseries, this is a very different experience.
It’s also not a date-night crowd-pleaser. Go with someone who wants to talk about it afterward. I needed a long walk home myself, which felt a little too on the nose.
Why It Took 45 Years to Film
The Long Walk has been one of King’s most-wanted adaptations for decades. George A. Romero was linked to it in the 1980s. Frank Darabont, who made The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999), held the rights for years. André Øvredal was attached at New Line around 2018.
None of those versions happened. The problem was always the same: how do you make two hours of walking cinematic? Lawrence’s answer is to stay close to the faces and let the road do the rest.
Related Works Worth Watching
If the film hooks you, start with the other Bachman books. Rage (1977), Roadwork (1981), The Running Man (1982), and Thinner (1984) share the same nasty streak.
The Running Man got its own new adaptation from Edgar Wright, starring Glen Powell, released in November 2025. Watching both back to back makes a great double bill of Bachman dystopias.
For older King films, Stand by Me (1986) is the obvious companion. It’s also four boys on a long walk, just with a gentler destination.
Where to Watch The Long Walk
The film opened theatrically through Lionsgate. It has since moved to digital, where you can rent or buy it on the major storefronts, including Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.
For subscription streaming, Lionsgate’s US pay-TV deal points it toward Starz. Check your platform for current availability, since windows shift.
In New York, keep an eye on repertory programmers. A King double feature with The Running Man feels inevitable at somewhere like the Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Brooklyn.
FAQ
Is The Long Walk based on a true story?
No. It’s fiction. King wrote it as a college student, and many readers connect it to Vietnam-era fears about the draft and young men sent off to die.
Who directed The Long Walk?
Francis Lawrence, best known for I Am Legend (2007) and four Hunger Games films. JT Mollner, who made Strange Darling (2023), wrote the screenplay.
Who plays the Major in The Long Walk?
Mark Hamill. He plays the military figure who oversees the Walk and addresses the boys at the start.
Is The Long Walk movie faithful to the book?
Mostly in spirit. It cuts the walkers from 100 to 50, lowers the pace to three miles per hour, adds a wish to the Prize, and changes the ending.
Is The Long Walk appropriate for teenagers?
It’s rated R for strong, bloody violence and language. I wouldn’t show it to younger teens. Older teens who handle graphic films will find a lot to discuss.
Do I need to read the book first?
No. The film stands on its own. Reading the novel afterward is more rewarding, because the differences in the ending hit harder.
