The Long Walk is a 2025 American dystopian survival thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by JT Mollner. It is based on the 1979 novel by Stephen King. The film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.
| The Long Walk | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Francis Lawrence |
| Screenplay by | JT Mollner |
| Based on | The Long Walk by Stephen King |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Jo Willems |
| Edited by | Mark Yoshikawa |
| Music by | Jeremiah Fraites |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $63.1 million |
Set in a dystopian 1970s, the film follows fifty boys in an annually televised competitive walking contest, meant to inspire viewers. Each boy must maintain a pace of three miles per hour (4.8 km/h) of nonstop walking for days, and failure to do so after three warnings results in death. The boy who lasts the longest wins a large cash prize and the fulfilment of one wish of his choice.
The Long Walk was released in the United States by Lionsgate on September 12, 2025. The film received positive reviews from critics, with the performances of Hoffman and Jonsson receiving praise. It grossed $63 million on a budget of $20 million.
Plot
In an alternate 20th century, the United States is a totalitarian military regime following a devastating civil war. The regime has established an annual event, the "Long Walk," which aims to inspire patriotism and work ethic among the destitute, as the country is in the grips of a severe economic depression. Fifty teenage boys, one from each state, are chosen randomly, given water and rations, and must walk hundreds of miles nonstop while escorted by armed soldiers who also broadcast the event. Those who fall below 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h) or stop walking receive up to three warnings before being executed. The Walk ends when there is only one survivor remaining, who receives a large cash prize and can have one wish fulfilled. Although the sign-up is technically voluntary, nearly all eligible young men do so every year in the hope of improving their families' lives.
Raymond "Ray" Garraty, the year's participant from Maine, is driven to the starting line near the Canada–United States border by his mother Ginnie, who begs him to back out, even though the deadline to do so has already passed. Ray refuses and meets the other participants, including Peter "Pete" McVries, Billy Stebbins, Arthur "Art" Baker, Collie Parker, Gary Barkovitch, Hank Olson, and Richard Harkness. The Major, a mysterious official who oversees the regime's death squads, starts the Walk and greets the boys from time to time as they proceed southward.
During the first day, Ray gets to know the other walkers and forms a bond with Pete. A boy named Curley is the first to be killed after he develops a charley horse in his leg. Barkovitch is shunned by the group for provoking another walker named Rank Sanders into attacking him, resulting in Rank's execution.
As the Walk continues, Pete says he wants to use his wish to improve the world. Ray wants to wish for a rifle to kill the Major as revenge for his father's execution over political opposition. Pete tries to talk Ray out of it, admits that he cannot let someone die to win, and intends to sit down once he has had enough. More walkers die as the days pass, including Harkness. Hank becomes delirious and tries to attack the soldiers, but they shoot him and let him bleed to death. After learning he was married, the boys vow to send money to his widow. Guilt over causing Rank's death and his exclusion from the pact leads Barkovitch to beg to join. Soon after Ray agrees, Barkovitch has a mental breakdown and fatally stabs himself in the throat with a spoon.
Only Ray, Pete, Stebbins, Art, and Collie remain. While walking through his hometown of Freeport, Ray spots Ginnie and runs to her, apologizing for competing. He is almost killed for stepping off the road, but is saved by Pete. Collie steals a rifle and shoots a soldier, then kills himself after being wounded by the others. Art develops an internal hemorrhage and thanks Pete and Ray for being his friends before stopping. Stebbins, who has fallen ill, reveals to Ray and Pete that he is one of the Major's many illegitimate sons, and he intended to use his wish to be taken into his father's home. He tells the pair it was an honor to walk with them before stopping, leaving Ray and Pete as the final two walkers.
On the evening of the fifth day and after 331 miles (533 kilometers), the pair enters a city in which a large crowd has gathered to see who will win. Pete sits down, but Ray picks him up and encourages him to keep going. He does so, only for Ray to stop walking instead. The Major personally executes Ray and congratulates Pete as the winner. When asked to state his wish, Pete carries out Ray's plan by asking for a carbine and killing the Major with it. He then turns to the now-empty and silent street and continues walking.
Alternate ending
In an alternate ending, instead of killing the Major, Pete drops the rifle at his side and continues walking, still disillusioned from his wish. Intertitles reveal that he begins mailing three envelopes filled with cash each month, one apiece to Hank's widow, Ray's mother, and Art's grandmother – the last of whom also receives Art's rosary and cross, which he had given to Ray before deciding to stop.
Cast
- Cooper Hoffman as Raymond "Ray" Garraty (#47), a walker who aspires to win and exact his revenge against the Major
- David Jonsson as Peter "Pete" McVries (#23), a kind and selfless walker who befriends Ray
- Garrett Wareing as Billy Stebbins (#38), an athletic walker who is knowledgeable about the Long Walk
- Tut Nyuot as Arthur "Art" Baker (#6), a walker who comes from a poor town and hopes to make friends during the walk
- Charlie Plummer as Gary Barkovitch (#5), a walker who taunts the others
- Ben Wang as Hank Olson (#46), a foulmouthed and talkative walker who befriends Art, Ray, and Pete
- Jordan Gonzalez as Richard Harkness (#49), a walker who is writing a book about the Long Walk
- Joshua Odjick as Collie Parker (#48), a walker who comes from a native tribe
- Mark Hamill as the Major, the man in charge of overseeing the Long Walk
- Roman Griffin Davis as Thomas Curley (#7), a young walker who appears to have lied about his age to get in
- Judy Greer as Ginnie Garraty, Ray's mother
- Josh Hamilton as William Garraty, Ray's late father
- Noah de Mel as James Ewing (#1), a walker who suffers from seizures
- Daymon Wrightly as Rank Sanders (#19), a walker who Barkovitch bullies
- Jack Giffin as Ronald (#45), a walker who suffers from diarrhea
- Thamela Mpumlwana as Pearson (#8), a walker who points out one of Ray's fans
- Keenan Lehmann as Larson (#14), a walker
- Dale Neri as Percy Grimes (#31), a walker who attempts to escape
- Teagan Stark as Patrick Smith (#4), a walker who injures his feet
- Sam Clark as Tressler (#24), a walker with a radio
- Emmanuel Oderemi as Zuck (#50), a walker
Production
In 1988, George A. Romero was considered to direct the film adaptation, but it never came to fruition. By 2007, Frank Darabont had secured the rights to the film adaptation of the novel. He said that he would "get to it one day". He planned to make it low-budget and stated, "It'll be weird, existential and very contained". In April 2018, New Line Cinema was set to adapt a film based on the novel, with James Vanderbilt attached to write and produce the film along with Bradley Fischer and William Sherak through their Mythology Entertainment banner. In May 2019, it was announced that André Øvredal would direct the adaptation.
By November 2023, the film was to be produced by Lionsgate Films with Francis Lawrence directing from a screenplay by JT Mollner. On June 10, 2024, Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson joined the cast. On taking the part of a young character who lost a father like Hoffman had himself, Hoffman said: "When your trauma is on display for the world, there's no actually hiding it. I'm like, I might as well talk about it, or I might as well put it into something. Because if I keep hiding it and running from it, that's not fair to anyone else who has gone through that. I'm here to display this person and this experience as honestly as I can, and hopefully someone else watches it and goes, he sees me, he understands me. And that's, in my opinion, the only reason to do any sort of art." The next month, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Izabella Raven, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Roman Griffin Davis, Mark Hamill, and Judy Greer joined the cast.
Principal photography began on July 24, 2024, in Winnipeg, and wrapped on September 12. The film was shot chronologically.
Jeremiah Fraites had composed the score for the film by March 2025. The country ballad song "Took a Walk" was written for the film and performed by Shaboozey and Stephen Wilson Jr.
Release
The Long Walk was released in the United States by Lionsgate on September 12, 2025.
The film closed the 58th Sitges Film Festival on October 19, 2025.
Reception
Box office
As of December 1, 2025, The Long Walk has grossed $35 million in the United States and Canada, and $28 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $63 million, against a budget of $20 million.
In the United States and Canada, The Long Walk was released alongside Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, and was projected to gross $6–10 million from 2,845 theaters in its opening weekend.The Long Walk made $4.8 million on its first day, including $1.3 million in Thursday previews. It debuted to $11.7 million, finishing in fourth.[citation needed] Positive word of mouth led the film into having above-average holds over the next several weeks. The film dropped out of the box office top ten in its fifth weekend.
Ultimately, the film managed to break-even with producer Roy Lee stating: "It made $65 million on a $20 million budget, so it didn’t lose money. It didn’t blow up, but I feel like it’s going to be similar to the way that The Shawshank Redemption is considered now. The Long Walk is, in a decade or so, going to be considered a classic."
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 284 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson's soulful performances bring a lot of heart to Stephen King's dystopian tale, making The Long Walk a life-or-death ordeal for its characters but a riveting ride for audiences."Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[citation needed]
Several reviewers praised the film for its performances, emotional impact, and cinematography. Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars, giving attention to the acting and the dynamics between characters. In Variety, Siddhant Adlakha praised the actors for creating characters that appeared "well-rounded and fully formed", which compensated for the vagueness of the world they inhabit. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote that the cinematography imbued the film with a "stark, morose beauty". Writing for Slate, Rebecca Onion described the film adaptation as better than the source material: "Stephen King has been adapted a lot, but this is the leanest, meanest adaptation of his work in a long time."
The film also received criticism for what some reviewers perceived as a thinly drawn premise and minimalistic approach to character development, including from Steve Rose of The Guardian. Rose noted that the script left many blanks, writing: "It is left to the viewer to fill in the gaps, suppress their niggling questions and just go along with it." In The Washington Post, Michael O'Sullivan observed: "How the contest is intended to restore what is described as the struggling American economy — let alone give viewers a sense of hope, as the overseer of the walk, identified only as the Major (a cartoonish Mark Hamill), declares — is a mystery." Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times also found that the plot strained credulity and that the director "forgot to entertain the audience".
Some also criticized the film's cryptic ending, similar to the book's ambiguous ending. Polygon's Tasha Robinson wrote: "But for me at least, DeVries [sic] being allowed to kill The Major and then walk away doesn't feel possible, and doesn't feel plausible – not without some sense of why that might happen. Nothing in the movie up to that moment sets up the idea that The Major's most devoted killers wouldn't respond in some way to his death, or that a crowd primed to shriek with excitement and enthusiasm over the graphic murder of teenage boys would stand by silently when their world changes in front of them. I don't think what we’re seeing is real. Whether that's a satisfying landing for this story, well, that's even more up to individual interpretation than the facts of the ending itself."Mashable's Belen Edwards was more positive, writing: "Like Garraty in the novel, perhaps McVries is so traumatized that he imagines that he keeps walking on. Or perhaps, on a much darker note, soldiers opened fire on McVries as soon as he killed the Major, and his final walk into the rain is him walking into death."
Accolades
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astra Creative Arts Awards | December 11, 2025 | Best Sound | Jeremy Peirson, Thomas Jones, Jeffrey Murias, Jeremy Peirson, and Carlos Sanches | Nominated | |
| Best Second Unit Director | Hadie DeJesus | Nominated | |||
| Best Marketing Campaign | The Long Walk | Nominated | |||
| Astra Film Awards | January 9, 2026 | Best Book to Screen Adaptation | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor – Drama | David Jonsson | Nominated | |||
| Austin Film Critics Association | December 18, 2025 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Best Ensemble | The Long Walk | Nominated | |||
| Film Independent Spirit Awards | February 15, 2026 | Robert Altman Award | Francis Lawrence, Rich Delia, Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Garrett Wareing | Won | |
| Florida Film Critics Circle | December 19, 2025 | Best Supporting Actor | David Jonsson | Runner-up | |
| London Film Critics Circle | February 1, 2026 | British/Irish Performer of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Phoenix Film Critics Society | December 15, 2025 | Top Ten Films | The Long Walk | Won | |
| Saturn Awards | March 8, 2026 | Best Thriller Movie | The Long Walk | Nominated | |
| Seattle Film Critics Society | December 15, 2025 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | David Jonsson | Nominated |