The first time I saw The Long Walk in theaters, I walked out and said, “I will happily never watch this movie again.” That was the truth, until the second time. The feeling I had in my stomach is something I can’t explain. I was silent the whole way home. The TikTok edits started flooding my FYP. I thought, “I have to go see it again.” And I did. I marched into that theater and saw it for a second time. This time, I’m thinking more prepared. Turns out, I was not. Did I cry? Maybe… But so was everyone else in that theater.Â
The Long Walk is a movie adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel of the same name. It stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Mark Hamill, and many more. Set in an alternate 20th century, after a second Civil War has devastated the United States, it is now controlled by a “totalitarian military regime.” Right off the bat, this is giving The Hunger Games, which is fitting because it is directed by none other than Francis Lawrence, director of Catching Fire, Mockingjay: Parts 1 and 2, and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.Â
The plot focuses on an annual event known as The Long Walk. It was introduced by the Major, played by Mark Hamill, to inspire a work ethic and end the epidemic of laziness. This event is made up of 50 volunteering teenage boys, one from each state, who are chosen at random. People are so desperate for the prize that, despite being voluntary, every teenage boy signs up. The rule is you must maintain a walking speed of three miles per hour. If the walker falls below this speed, they are given a warning. Once they hit the maximum of three warnings, they are immediately executed by the soldiers. The last surviving walker receives a large amount of money and one wish that must be fulfilled.Â
I’m not going to talk about the plot details because I want people to experience it for themselves. Rather, I’m going to talk about the unsuspected emotional aspect of the movie. When I saw the trailers for this movie, I was intrigued from the start. I don’t like horror, so I debated for a while whether I would go see this in theaters. I saw a few TikToks of people crying after watching it and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I had no idea what I was going into. I thought it was going to be a horror movie about walking. Instead, I get hit with the most emotional movie I have seen in a very long time. I had a pit in my stomach after the first kill that got bigger and bigger as more characters died.Â
These are just a few notable quotes for me: “I did it all wrong,” “My ankle is all twisted up,” “Promise me you won’t watch,” “An honor,” “That’s why I love you,” “I’m going home,” and “The only guarantee you have as a human being is that you are going to die. And, if you’re lucky, you get to choose how you spend those last moments.” I swear Francis Lawrence walked onto this movie and was like, “How can I make the audience bawl their eyes out and question their life decisions in 1 hour and 48 minutes?” I can confirm I did both.
To end this on a positive note, let’s talk about a duo we’re going to be seeing a lot in the future. Cooper Hoffman, who plays Ray Garraty, and David Jonsson, who plays Peter McVries, formed a friendship outside the film. Jonsson says in an interview with GQ, “There was a generation of actors back in the day, like people that we know now and we look up to. All these big actors that work with the same people on several different films. I would love that to be the case, if I’m lucky, with Cooper.” Luckily for us, these two will be starring in A24’s new film, The Chaperones. I am claiming myself as an OG fan now. I truly believe these two will be the future of the film industry. They will be the new Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.     Â