The Long Walk | Film Review

 

A group of teenage boys participate in a gruelling competition, being forced to walk continuously or face deadly consequences.

I had heard so many great things about this film, but because the idea of the story didn’t completely appeal to me, I was a bit apprehensive going in about whether or not I’d like it.

Thankfully I loved the film.

For a start, as much as I didn’t love the premise, I do love Stephen King stories, and this is so undeniably King, while also throwing in a sprinkle of The Hunger Games.

As most of the film is dialogue-based, you have to have great actors and characters to make this work, and these actors and their characters are the best thing about the film. The characters are interesting for so many reasons, not least because they’re in this competition in the first place, so you want to find out as much about them as possible. They’re all really different, they have such interesting interactions with each other, and they’re what keep you watching.

The actors do such a great job of creating their characters and rooting them in authenticity. We really believe they are in this situation, everything feels so real.

And can I just add, while the main actors are amazing, I have to shout out Judy Greer, who gives a small but phenomenal performance.

I loved the shocks – the film doesn’t shy away from anything and it’s great that the audience get to see these horrors up close.

But in saying that, this does make the film a hard watch, particularly if you go in blind. But what makes it work so well is that, buried beneath the horrific story is a variety of really fascinating depictions of male friendship and the different forms this takes.

You feel like you’re walking alongside them, which makes everything that happens really powerful and emotional. It forces us to fall in love with the characters, and we do.

The only thing about this film that I didn’t like was the ending. I heard after watching that the ending in the book was different and maybe that would have worked better. For me the ending was the only predictable aspect, and it just felt cheap after everything else the film had done well.

So overall, I loved this film. That being said, while I’m very glad I’ve seen it, I can’t imagine it’ll be one to rewatch.

8.5/10