The Long Walk

Last week, The Long Walk, the newest Stephen King adaptation, was released in theaters. I was on vacation last week, but finally got to see it this week. The Long Walk is set in a dystopian future where 50 young men participate in a contest known as The Long Walk, with the final survivor winning a substantial amount of money and a single wish. The premise sounded quite interesting, so I was really looking forward to this movie this month.

The Long Walk is one of the best movies I have seen since July. It combines aspects of Stephen King's friendship stories, such as Stand By Me, It, and The Shawshank Redemption, with elements of The Hunger Games (which makes sense considering the director was involved in several of the Hunger Games movies). The Long Walk makes something as simple and mundane as guys walking down a road and turns it into a high-stakes story that keeps you invested from beginning to end. Because the whole movie is centered around this walk, it gives the audience a lot of time to get to know these characters as you see them open up with each other, sharing their motivations and struggles. The bond that these guys build is just so well done that when they begin to die, it makes it even more gut-wrenching. It is so interesting to see how, even though there can only be one winner, these guys are still willing to pull each other through the walk and not leave someone behind. The movie also does a great job of building in thrills to this walk. Because of the threat of death if they stop walking, it turns simple things like a bloody nose or a rock in a shoe into way more intense moments, as any of them could cause someone to stop walking for too long.

I didn't have much wrong with this movie. There were a couple of more obvious line drops that were obviously there to set something up later, but other than that, I was very content with this movie.

Overall, this is a great thriller that turns the simple into something extremely intense while also showcasing male bonding and friendship.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: Check it out.