“The Long Walk”: friendship, loss and revenge

BY ASHTYN HANSARD

Digital Media Director

On Sept. 12, 2025, Stephen King’s movie adaptation of his novel “The Long Walk” premiered in theaters across the world. Being an avid movie lover and wanting to get into the horror genre, I decided to grab my roommate and head to Stephenville’s Cinema 6.

Warning: There will be slight spoilers in this review.

“The Long Walk” wastes no time, immediately throwing the viewer into the world. Through dialogue and context clues, we’re explained the plot.

Every year, one male from every state is selected from a pool of “volunteers” to walk until one person survives. If you’re left, you’re granted one wish and more money than you could ever need.

Firstly, let’s talk about the actors. This cast is absolutely stacked with supporting roles, with actors such as Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Charlie Plummer and Josh Hamilton. However, many of the characters actually doing the “long walk” are still up and coming in Hollywood.

Our main character is Ray Garraty, played by Cooper Hoffman. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because his father was the great actor, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Our main supporting character is Peter McVries, played by David Jonsson.

I mention these two separately because of how brilliant their performance was. Their characters become friends pretty quickly once the walk starts, which is a fascinating concept considering only one person will survive.

Hoffman and Jonsson have some of the best on-screen chemistry I have seen in my life. They immediately capture the audience’s attention with their easy dialogue with one another. They’re fascinating to watch throughout the whole movie, whether it’s a filler scene or an incredibly tense one.

I also love the characterization of the entire cast. There’s several different characters, but they all feel like their own person and do a good job of stealing the show during their bit of screentime. The way that they interact and create bonds on screen really helps drive the story forward.

There were also some fantastic dialogue points in the movie that really helped the viewer understand the emotional and physical pain of this alternate world.

One of the more memorable lines was from the beginning of the movie by McVries. Him, Garraty, Hank Olson and Arthur Baker all bond close to the start of the walk. After realizing they work better as a team, McVries decides that he’s going to go against the unspoken rules.

“They say you shouldn't make friends on the long walk, but I like you three. Let's be Musketeers,” McVries says. After this suggestion, the four of them stick together, risking their lives to save one another in the toughest moments.

Friendship is one of the biggest themes displayed in this movie, even between characters that aren’t big fans of each other. While they may not like each other, they’re still trying to help one another make it as far as they can.

While the bonding makes for a sweet moment, it makes the death hit so much harder.

While several of the deaths were hard to watch, the two that stick out to me the most were Baker’s and Olson’s, mainly because of their last words.

Olson ends up dying first after a long period of barely being conscious. In his last moments, he tries to take a gun from one of the soldiers following them, resulting in him being shot twice. 

While he bleeds out on the ground, he screams, “I did it all wrong!” over and over again in a voice filled with pain. This is the first time I teared up while watching.

The second time I teared up was at Baker’s death. Throughout the movie, we get glimpses of Baker’s relationship with his faith and with the Bible. Baker makes it far, but ends up passing when there’s only four walkers left. His last moments were heartbreaking.

Baker decides to stop walking, knowing he won’t make it to the end. He gives Garraty the cross around his neck and makes him and McVries promise not to watch his death. As he waits for the soldiers to finish him off, he says repeatedly, “I’m going home.”

The repetition of these final sayings with the scores playing in the background makes these two moments even more painful. I’m not ashamed to say I was fully crying by this point.

For my final bit of this review, I want to talk about the message of this movie, as it’s a vital point of the plot.

There’s a moment about halfway through the movie where Garraty goes on a tangent about how no one really volunteers for the walk. Sure, it’s technically optional, but the world they’re living in has become so disastrous that entering the walk and risking death is the only real way to survive.

Garraty has an interesting backstory that ties into all of this. We learn that his father used to show him music and art that was later banned because it went against the current government. His father was caught and killed instantly for refusing to apologize. This is one of Garraty’s main motives to win the walk.

Garraty begins a constant questioning of the forced propaganda and why all the young men continue to sign up among the group. This is risky, but since they all know there’s a good chance they’re going to die, many of the boys don’t seem to care.

This theme keeps occurring over and over again, constantly shouting in your face. 

Why do they subject themselves to this punishment? Why do they let the government let them think they have a choice when they all know they don’t? Why follow their rules instead of fighting back? Why not fight to change the system?

I always find this an interesting topic since it seems to be the center of most dystopian pieces of media.

Garraty knows that change must happen, and he’s willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to do it. McVries wants change, but he doesn’t think violence is the answer and believes change should come from within the system.

Both boys know that the world isn’t right and want to use their wish to change it. I won’t say exactly what their wish is, but they both want to take different paths to make this change. By the end, those wishes change.

While I would love to dive deeper into this movie and talk about all the symbolism and parallels between characters, I don’t want to give too much of the story away.

If you’re in the mood for an emotional, yet entertaining movie to watch, I highly recommend “The Long Walk.”