Book To Screen: “The Long Walk” A Tense, Deeply Emotional Film
- Matt Palmer
- Apr 13
- 3 min read
“The Long Walk” is a dystopian novel by American author Stephen King, published in 1979, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. In 2000, the American Library Association listed “The Long Walk” as one of the 100 best books for teenage readers between 1966 and 2000. Last year, it was adapted into a film directed by “Hunger Games” director Franchise Lawrence.
Set in a dystopian 1970s, the film follows fifty young boys in a televised competitive walking contest, meant to inspire viewers. Each boy must maintain a pace of three miles per hour of non-stop walking for days, and failure to do so after three warnings results in death.
The boy who lasts the longest wins a large cash prize and the fulfillment of one wish of his choice.
When I saw the trailers for this Stephen King adaptation, I became curious to see how this adaptation would end up turning out. This film adaptation of one of King’s earliest novels is an intense, sometimes brutal, film that can also be really emotional. The film’s gritty narrative is extremely character-driven (which really helps with the overall story) and “The Long Walk” delivers some truly strong performances, especially when we see some of the boys slowly begin to break down after walking for so long, among other reasons.
One thing I noticed while watching the film is the raw, visceral emotional impact,
transforming a simple premise of walking into a rather, intense, heart-wrenching experience. Despite the often hopeless scenario that we see them in, the friendships formed by some of the characters trying to survive, created a type of brotherhood that can easily move the viewing audience. The combination of a tense, haunting musical score and the sometimes never-ending feel of the walk creates a deeply immersive, sometimes disturbing experience.
The central friendship between Ray Garraty and Peter McVries, played by Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, has been widely praised as the film’s main emotional anchor. Their friendship, forged under the constant threat of death, can feel truly deep at times especially towards the conclusion.
“The Long Walk” also delivers some very tense and heart-breaking moments that really stand out. Throughout the film, we see quite a few of the characters suffer major breakdowns, including one character who might’ve caused one of the other boys to have a tragic end. One of the most heartbreaking moments is when the remaining number of boys are walking through one of the boys’ hometown and the one character sees his mother as he’s trying to make it through the walk and we see both of them break down.
The 2025 film adaptation of “The Long Walk” is widely regarded as a gripping and brutal adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Critics and audiences have praised the film’s tense atmosphere and strong performances. While it wasn’t a massive blockbuster, its box office performance ($63 million worldwide on a $20 million budget) was deemed solid for this dark, R-rated thriller.
MPA: Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, suicide, pervasive language, and some sexual references (runtime 108 minutes)
Initial release date: September 12, 2025
Streaming service: various PVOD services
In the book, the walkers have to maintain a speed of 4 mph, but in the movie at the request of Stephen King, they changed it to 3 mph as he felt the original speed was unrealistic for the duration of the contest.
On August 30, 2025, Lionsgate held a special screening where the invited audience was required to walk on treadmills at the regulation 3 mph for the duration of the film, under threat of being thrown out if they slowed down.
In the film there are 50 walkers, one from each state; in the book there were 100 walkers, with almost no mention of state affiliations with the notable exception of the protagonist, Ray Garrity, who is from Maine, where the Long Walk is held.
One of four Stephen King stories adapted into movies for 2025. The others are The Running Man (2025), The Monkey (2025), and The Life of Chuck (2024).
In the mid-2000s, Frank Darabont bought the rights for novel, intending to make the film but, after many years of no progress, the rights lapsed.
George A. Romero was first attached to direct a film adaptation of "The Long Walk" in 1988.
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