The Long Walk [8/10]

Based on an old Stephen King dystopian novel under a pseudonym, The Long Walk is a mean-spirited, horrid movie that somehow sparkles with life and contains hope. The future-America premise of the film is simple: in a United States now run by the military, every year one young man from each state joins a 50-strong “race” in which they walk until only one, the victor, is left. The others get shot during the walk for slowing below a mandated pace or straying off the road. Director Francis Laurence pulls no punches with displaying the carnage as the men walk, walk, and walk. We realize from an early point that the center of the film is the growing friendship between a young white guy with a secret motive (ably portrayed by Cooper Hoffman) and a philosophical, hardbitten black man (a wonderful performance by David Jonson), and the movie’s tension is maintained as we watch them bond and suffer. The cinematography of endless walking across America is evocative and the foul-mouthed dialogue feels fresh and real. All up, The Long Walk is definitely not for everyone but if dystopia (a genuine, troubling dystopia) intrigues you, this film grips hard.