Shadows on the Wall | The Long Walk

The Long Walk

dir Francis Lawrence
scr JT Mollner
prd Francis Lawrence, Roy Lee, Cameron MacConomy, Steven Schneider
with Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Joshua Odjick, Jordan Gonzalez, Roman Griffin Davis, Josh Hamilton
release US/UK 12.Sep.25
25/US Lionsgate 1h48

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ogjick, gonzalez, jonsson, hoffman and plummer

Based on the 1979 Stephen King novel, this film feels like Stand by Me crossed with The Hunger Games. Set in an alternate 1970s dystopia, awful violence punctuates an intriguing but relentlessly bleak Vietnam War allegory, as young men are sent to their deaths for reasons they can't understand. Director Francis Lawrence gives the film a golden period sheen and encourages the solid cast to deliver gripping performances.

Overseen by the Major (Hamill), the annual Long Walk supposedly offers hope to struggling Americans, forcing 50 young men to maintain a 3 miles-per-hour pace. Otherwise, they're shot. The last contender standing wins a fortune. Raymond (Hoffman) has convinced his mother (Greer) to let him participate, and of course she is overcome with worry. But Raymond is determined to walk long enough to pass through his hometown and see her there. At the start, he befriends the cool Pete (Jonsson), and they help each other along the road, making various connections with the other boys.

Basically, the movie consists of guys walking down empty roads in variable terrain and weather, discussing existential ideas and talking about past issues and future hopes. Since all but one of them is walking to their doom, the atmosphere is grave, even when they joke around. The whole nation is watching, cameras accompany heavily armed soldiers who are ready to take someone out after three warmings. Thankfully, the walkers are likeable, even if arch dialog leaves them feeling somewhat artificial.

At the centre, Hoffman delivers a superbly full-bodied performance as a normal kid who keeps his true motivation close to his chest. He's also open to those around him in remarkably sympathetic ways. So his friendship with the magnetic Jonsson's more outwardly confident Pete feels strong. There are hints that there's more to their connection, but the script simply won't go there. Other characters are also limited by their specific types, but the actors play them with complex layers that make the interaction riveting.

This is an odd movie in similar-looking scene are punctuated with horrific violence. All that changes is the topic of discussion between this cross-section of young men as they become increasingly worn-out, both physically and emotionally. Swirling around them are Greer's pained mother and Hamill's astonishingly heartless (and frustratingly one-note) military meathead. In other words, the metaphors are not terribly subtle, and the story is almost overpoweringly grim. Watching may not be much fun, but it's continually, restlessly thought-provoking.

themes, language, violence 2.Sep.25

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