“Walk or Die” is the tagline for director Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Long Walk,” and this film really means it. With its numerous bullet-ridden bodies and exploding heads, the R-rating is easily earned. Lawrence may have directed the later movies in the PG-13-rated “The Hunger Games” series, but he’s also directed far more graphic fare, like the 2005 Keanu Reeves demon hunter actioner, “Constantine.”
The plot is simple: In a dystopian future, a group of 50 young men (half of the book’s original 100) sign up for a nonstop marathon walking contest through New England. They’re each assigned a number based on a random draw. Each walker must maintain a consistent speed of 3 miles per hour. If, for any reason, a person’s speed dips below the minimum, they are issued three warnings in quick succession.
After the third warning, a walker is executed with extreme prejudice by a group of machine gun-toting soldiers.
The last man standing will be awarded anything his heart desires for the rest of his life. This gift will be bestowed on him by The Major (Mark Hamill), the Walk’s sadistic ring leader. He appears here more times than he does in the novel, and Hamill gives him a gruff voice and a stare you can feel emanating from behind his dark sunglasses. He’s effective with very little screentime.
Like the murderous game show in “The Running Man,” the other book King published under the name Richard Bachman, the Long Walk is a spectator sport. People bring their kids, and the walkers are occasionally cheered on by family members or denizens of their home town. There’s always a frontrunner cheered on by a legion of fans. For this Walk, it’s #47, Maine’s own Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman, son of Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Garraty makes fast friends with #23, Peter McVries (David Jonsson), and their bond will serve them well as they interact with the other contestants. Psychological mind games and outright hostility are part of the journey, as is bodily failure. The constant threat of sudden violence hangs over “The Long Walk” like a hidden cobra waiting to strike. As a result, we’re just as nervous as the protagonists.
The script, by JT Mollner, does an excellent job streamlining King’s book. One of the problems I had with the source material is the repetitive nature of the story. King did a good job fleshing out his main protagonists— McVries, Garraty, the troublemaking Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), Barkovitch (Charlie Plummer), and the seemingly indestructible Olson (Ben Wang). But as the pages wore on, monotony set in as I waited for the next warning to be delivered.
Lawrence wisely casts this film with charismatic actors who make the time pass quickly. Most of this movie is just a bunch of actors walking, with random bursts of gore and death. The chemistry between Jonsson and Hoffman carries the movie, and each actor gets some good speeches. Jonsson, who was the best thing in “Alien: Romulus” (2024) and a great romantic lead in “Rye Lane” (2023), continues his noteworthy rise as one of the best actors working today. There’s a speech by McVries near the end of this film that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
Additionally, the cinematography by Jo Willems and Jeremiah Fraites’s score provide just the right mood for such a dark movie.
Fans of the book will not be disappointed, though one change is bound to cause some griping. King’s nasty edge remains undiluted in this adaptation, but the film doesn’t answer the central question that kept me from surrendering to the book both times I read it: Why are these young men doing this walk, knowing full well that they are very likely not going to survive it? What on this Earth is so desirable that any of them would endure the possibility of being shot while relieving themselves in full view of everyone who’s watching?
Mollner’s script adds a few relatable motivations — Garraty’s mother (Judy Greer) figures in his story — but for the most part “The Long Walk” lets us meditate on what the answer might be, and why the characters didn’t take the opt-out clause. The world they live in every other day must be intolerably cruel to consider such a contest.
★★★
THE LONG WALK
Directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by JT Mollner. Starring Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, Charlie Parker, Garrett Wareing, Judy Greer. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 108 minutes. R (graphic violence, suicide, language)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.