Stephen King’s The Long Walk hits the screen in gruelling dystopian adaptation

In a dystopian alternative timeline where postwar America is ruled by a totalitarian government, young Americans are chosen by lottery to participate in a game to the death that is broadcast live to the nation. 

Now, where have we heard that before? 

The Long Walk might sound like another adaptation of what could be any number of young adult (YA) novels, and you’d be forgiven for drawing that comparison, especially as director Francis Lawrence helmed most of the Hunger Games films. He also collaborates again here with another Hunger Games alum, cinematographer Jo Willems. 

However, The Long Walk is definitely not YA fiction. 

Harrowing, unflinching and relentless, this film doesn’t pull any punches. And while the source material, Stephen King’s 1979 novella of the same name (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), may have started out as a horror thriller, screenwriter JT Mollner made some key changes to bring The Long Walk closer to the likes of The Green Mile or Shawshank Redemption in depth and tone, rather than other celebrated King adaptations like Carrie. 

In The Long Walk, 50 young men between the age of 18 and 25 are chosen annually to take part in the titular challenge, a competition intended to inspire the nation out of its “epidemic of laziness” after a soul-crushing civil war, boost the economy and raise America back to its former position of world dominance. 

The rules of the Long Walk are simple. Walk or die. 

The competitors must walk at a speed of three miles an hour (about 4.8km/h) for as long as they can. Fall below that speed and they receive a warning and 10 seconds to get back up to speed. Three warnings, and they are gratuitously gunned down by their heavily armed military escort. 

At the same time, stepping off the road for even a moment results in instant death. The only hope of survival is to be the last man walking, which nets the winner an unfathomable amount of money, and one wish. All of this is broadcast to the captive nation. 

Each of the competitors walk with their own strategies and for their own reasons, but as it’s pointed out by the main character, Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), as much as entry into the lottery is voluntary, not a single boy their age doesn’t enter. The absolute authority that The Major (Mark Hamill) and his militia exert over the country ensures a fearful and compliant population. 

Garraty, the “home-town” boy from the state in which the competition takes place, strikes up an alliance with some fellow walkers, including motormouth Olsen (Ben Wang), affable Arthur (Tut Nyuot) and the optimistic and philosophical Peter McVries (David Jonsson). 

They band together to keep each other motivated. In particular, McVries is a major source of empathy and comfort, keeping Garraty upright through the night as he dozes on foot and dreams of what brought him to The Long Walk in the first place. 

Indeed, in spite of the circumstances, or maybe because of them, alliances turn into genuine friendships as the boys are forced to eat away at the miles ahead. 

With nothing to do but put one foot in front of the other, conversations about everything and nothing flow to pass the time, leading to deep personal connections. 

These moments, as McVries calls them, are what keep the boys going. Not only do the teasing, levity and small, smart-mouthed rebellions represent a revolt against and respite from the young men’s nightmarish situation, but they bring a welcome, warm-hearted touch to proceedings in the vein of Stand By Me (another “out-the-mould” King adaptation) for the cinema audience. 

These light-hearted instances are a much-needed reprieve because the pace of the 104-minute The Long Walk is as relentless as the pace the competitors must maintain as they walk, step after heavy step, from the starting gun to the inexorable conclusion – with the pack thinning as more competitors fall, break down or simply crack under the pressure.

It’s worth noting that as excruciatingly demanding as the physical aspect of the Long Walk is, the mental aspect is even harder to overcome, as the boys grapple with the helpless and hopeless reality of the system they find themselves in, without any power to enact meaningful change before their inevitable failure. 

Lawrence has an unflinching eye for the banal horror of what is taking place, where anything from a leg cramp and violently upset stomach, to a steep uphill will eliminate a competitor in short and graphically violent order. 

As mentioned earlier, The Long Walk is definitely not a young adult tale. It’s a reflection of dystopian reality through a grown-up lens, and that means the camera never cuts away from trauma, forcing viewers to “live” it with the characters as they stumble on.

Though King’s original work was written just after America’s disastrous participation in the Vietnam War, the parallels to our current society are easy to see, but thankfully not hammered home. 

It would have been simple for Mollner and Lawrence to make the direct and obvious comparison and expound at length about the dangers of a fascist, totalitarian government. Instead, they treat the overall themes with subtlety and care, zooming in on the personal, to emotionally devastating effect. 

Indeed, as the credits rolled in the cinema, it took this writer a long time to gather herself. As a result of the persistent tension and long, lingering shots of walking feet, followed by cameras tracking over lifeless, near-empty towns, accompanied by the quietly desperate banter of the Walk’s participants, you may feel as wrung out and empty as a survivor. 

It’s not ceaselessly bleak, but The Long Walk gets under your skin as it treads the tough road of true grassroots defiance, and stays there long after the winner walks off screen. DM

The Long Walk is in cinemas from 12 September. This story was first published by PFangirl.