Francis Lawrence’s newly released “The Long Walk” is based on Stephen King’s 1979 novel of the same name. It grabbed my attention as both a movie enjoyer and an avid reader of dystopian and Sci-fi fiction.
Recently released on Sept. 12, the movie was an overall bizarre, and thoroughly thoughtful, dystopian-fiction film.
The movie starts with a black text screen describing how the main character, Ray Garraty, has been drafted for the annual “Long Walk.” As he arrives at the starting line he is hugged by his distressed mother, given some cookies and then is cast upon the unfortunates who also are participating.
Overall the group consists of fifty people of varying ages. As Garraty gets to the starting line he meets a man with a scar across his face named Peter McVries. As they wait for their next orders, they get to know each other.
One of the participants looked particularly young, no older than sixteen, as mentioned by another participant, Hank Olsen. They are called up, given dog tags with a certain number and then told to go back to their seats.
They are then told to line up in rows of ten. Soon the race begins and the boys begin walking. As the boys joke amongst themselves, the younger boy, known as Thomas Curley, gets a cramp in his leg.
After his third warning he is shot. This is a good time to explain the rules.
Essentially, “Long Walk” is a death game. Whoever is the last one of the fifty boys alive, wins a giant cash prize and is granted one wish. There is no finish line, just a test of endurance. You walk until you physically cannot anymore.
All the contestants have to keep a pace of three miles per hour or they get a warning. If you attack one of the soldiers in charge of watching the contestant, well, then you get shot and left to bleed out. If you run off the road you are instantly killed. After the third warning you are quickly executed.
Slowly, and over the course of three hundred miles, the boys are whittled down until only McVries and Garraty remain. Garraty sacrifices himself for McVries and is personally killed by The Major.
The Major is the main antagonist and implied dictator of this dystopian America. He personally handles the “Long Walk” yearly and appears at certain points such as the hundredth mile marker.
McVries, now the last standing, is asked what his wish will be. All he asked for was one of the nearby soldiers’ weapons. McVries then shoots the Major, carrying out Garraty’s wish to avenge his father.
This movie was one that gripped me. While in that dark theatre I felt time slow as each crawling second passed and I watched the cast be weathered down mentally, physically and emotionally.
What mainly impressed me about the movie was the environmental story telling. The setting takes place in a post wartorn United States, ruled by a military dictatorship and the US being in an economical crisis post war.
The movie really did a great job at conveying this. As the contestants shamble forward we see half abandoned towns, broken cities, cracked roads and burning cars. It really elucidates the dire economical state America is in.
The film is gruesomely gory, very nice if you like that type of stuff. A lot of the deaths are done off screen but the ones which appear really mess with you.
The first death of Curley really sets the tone by depicting a lucid gunshot to the head. If you are very squirmy at seeing realistic blood and other gore, then I suggest staying away.
The acting is sometimes very well executed and other times not compelling enough. Barkovitch, for example, played by Charlie Plummer, was not that interesting of a character. And his story was kinda lackluster, lacking the emotional attachment which was fostered with the other crew.
He was meant to be unlikeable, but when the movie treated his death like we should care, it really did not compel me to feel bad for him. However this could be blamed less on Plummer’s performance and more so on the poorly written dialogue of his character.
The strongest point of the film acting and writing wise would be the growing friendship between McVries and Garraty. David Jonnson and Cooper Hoffman really did a marvelous job at displaying both the characters.
McVries and his jovial nature kept the movie from feeling like it was just solely depicting suffering for the sake of it. His character contrasts well with Garraty’s more introspective, philosophical and vengeful nature.
The switch between the two at the end, with Garraty’s death being portrayed in the light and McVries in the darkness, really show how the two have affected each other. With Garraty accepting peace and McVries carrying out Garraty’s wish shows a change in mindset for both characters.
Garraty realizing that revenge is not worth it, he views the light and chooses love instead of hate. However, McVries is suddenly pushed past the edge of his hopeful and optimistic worldview. He realized that sometimes revenge is not just revenge, but justice. The shooting of the Major was not just the death of the antagonist, it was the symbolic end of the “Long Walk” in general.
The emotional ending really got me, because by the time they are the only two left you really want neither of them to die. You can feel that by the end, they are not just friends. They are brothers, born of sweat and toil, born from the lingering fear of death and born from genuine enjoyment of each other’s company.
While viewing the movie, I was reminded of both “The Hunger Games” and “Squid Games.” The original storyline had that young-adult dystopian novel feel long before the genre really bloomed in the 2010’s.
If you like the dystopian fiction genre, then you would really like this movie.
The message really needs to be taken in the context of the Vietnam War. A lot of the themes of the story only make sense if you put it in the context of the original book.
Garraty mentions the “Long Walk” as something, while marketed as voluntary, was actually anything but. It was forced upon them via brainwashing and conditioning, but they advertised it as a way to escape poverty.
This metaphor, if seen in the light of the Vietnam War, really elevates one’s view of it. It shows how boys often are pressured into the military to escape their circumstances.
One of the biggest downsides of the movie was how predictable it was. You knew who was going to die and who was going to live.
However, the twist at the end that the main character actually died was actually a good subversion of the concept of plot armor. It shows that even the main protagonist can be sacrificed in the name of a good story.
This movie is for those who can handle tense scenes and grotesque detail. If you are squeamish then avoid it, not all movies are made for everyone. Overall, surprising, tense, emotional and a little predictable. My overall rating is a 7/10.
