The Long Walk

Francis Lawrence

Ashley Sudeta

I was less than impressed when posters advertising “The Long Walk” popped up on campus bulletin boards over the summer. The premise—a walking competition in dystopian America—felt cheap, and I wasn’t familiar enough with Stephen King’s work for his name to mean anything to me. However, I’m a hater, not narrow-minded, and skimming a synopsis of King’s book was all it took for me to change my heart and book a seat at the theater.

Taking place in a totalitarian U.S., wracked by widespread poverty, “The Long Walk” features 50 young men who apply for a walking competition in hopes of winning a large amount of money in addition to one wish of their choosing. The walkers must comply with a book of rules, including a minimum walking speed, and walk until only one remains. Peter McVries (David Jonsson) states it succinctly, “This is walk or die.”

While there’s plenty of blood in the film, it’s not simply for shock value. The walk can easily be seen as a metaphor for predatory military recruitment. This is especially because King wrote “The Long Walk” in the wake of the Vietnam War. It can also be interpreted as a representation of capitalism, the American Dream, or any other self-destructive act of patriotism.

My favorite part of the movie was the love the walkers gain for one another. Scenes of lighthearted humor and joy contrast the bleak violence, amplifying each character’s death. It was intense, and I was captivated the entire time. The film I initially thought would be gratuitously edgy turned out to be a heartwrenching story of love’s place in political resistance.