By JJ Ledewitz, Arts and Culture Editor
“The task is simple: walk or die.”
In an alternate 20th century, every year, fifty boys are chosen at random to walk endlessly at a pace of at least three miles per hour. The punishment for slowing below this requirement is death. The military regime televises the event to instill inspiration in the broken country, as a sort of message, to show that the prize of the race, riches and a single wish given to the last remaining walker, can be given to anyone – even you – once a year.
With The Long Walk, like many other films in his filmography, including most of the Hunger Games franchise and I Am Legend, director Francis Lawrence knew what he was doing. Lawrence has a good track record when it comes to adapting dystopian novels, and seeing as The Long Walk is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, he has proven himself to be the perfect man for the job.
While the cast is the most outstanding part of the film, The Long Walk achieves something more: it is very, very impressive that a movie in which most of the screen time consists of people walking resulted in something so gripping and suspenseful. Each second of runtime is crucial to the story, and Lawrence makes sure endless walking is just as thrilling as anything else.
Cooper Hoffman, son of acting legend Phillip Seymour Hoffman, plays Ray Garraty, a teenager intent on being the sole winner of the Long Walk to use his final wish to take revenge against the government for what they did to his anti-authoritarian, rebellious father. At the beginning of the walk, Ray meets and befriends Pete McVries, a cynical yet charismatic drifter who brings a sense of hopefulness to the usually depressing and merciless walk. Their friendship grows as the walk progresses, but gains a darker context as the realization seeps in that there can only be one winner. Unlike its cinematic cousin, The Hunger Games, The Long Walk concerns characters whose goals are not to eliminate each other, but to let nature and the human body take out their rivals to pave an easier path to the final prize. The feeling of uneasiness and dread isn’t as explicit in this film as in The Hunger Games, but it’s always there, lurking about.
Because of this, we get to know a lot of the supporting characters who grow on you — just in time for them to die horribly. It’s something that the film perfects, drawing you in with what seems like an interesting ensemble cast while making sure you never get too attached. Mark Hamill portrays the terrifying General, who stands facing the front of the group, in his military vehicle, with his gun pointed directly at them, barely speaking a word. He makes sure nobody breaks the rules and proves himself to be one of the main physical — and emotional — antagonists of the film.
Without the incredible script by JT Mollner, the film wouldn’t be as emotionally driven as it is. It’s clear that this world has gone to shambles, and the Long Walk shouldn’t exist, yet each one of these fifty boys begins with his eyes on the prize and soon gains something that he never expected: friends. Friends that, sadly enough, can’t save each other from their fate.
The Long Walk is a heartbreaking tragedy that starts off bleak and ends in disaster and blood, slaughtering relationships you’ve seen sprout and thrive. It shows the horrors of authoritarianism and how effective manipulation can control people, reminding you that a contest like this can only end in disaster, all while remaining a spectacle only fully appreciated on the big screen.
Photo Credit: Unsplash