The Long Walk Review: Stephen King Adaptation Misses the Mark Despite Hype

Another Lionsgate release to the cinemas and gathered high critics’ ratings. But this is not how we felt. The trailer did send some serious chills down our spine; unfortunately, the movie didn’t.

Thinking of heading to the theatre? Read The Long Walk review from our side to see whether this Stephen King adaptation deserves a spot on your watchlist- or your waitlist.

Plot details of The Long Walk (2025)​

Directed by Francis Lawrence, the 1979 novel of the same name, written under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman, is finally adapted into a film. This special walk is about a titular annual contest which will only end with one survivor.

The participants will keep walking, even if it means walking more than 300 miles without a break. The rules are simple: whoever stops will have to embrace death by a gunshot. 

After the third warning, the gunmen won’t hesitate to shoot if the participant doesn’t stand up. At the cost of what? Plenty of riches to get them out of the financial misery. ​

Watch this hair-raising clip from the dystopian film to get a glimpse of what I am suggesting here: 

Actors’ performances in The Long Walk (2025)

Cooper Hoffman as Raymond Garraty and David Jonsson as Peter McVires were evidently excellent. These two were the highlight of the film, mainly for me, because they showed how Black and White could be good friends, just by walking together for four days.

They were together, day and night, walking at the same pace. They were seen encouraging others not to give up and never stop walking. They were both together singing their own songs and having the time of their lives, without having to worry about the price.​ They gave and took lives for each other at the end- a rare emotional scene.

Their performances showed how these two segments of society can come closer regardless of the social or financial gains, and it looked beautiful. 

The supporting cast delivered decent performances but lacked emotional depth. Since their roles were limited, it felt as if an emotional connection was lost. Their performance didn’t make an overall impact. 

What do critics add to The Long Walk review?​

Based on the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, The Long Walk gained positive reviews, declared as the highest-rated Stephen King adaptation so far. 

“Cooper Hoffman and David Johnsson’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.” [Source]

The critics explained that it is terrifying as well as emotional. It gives a clear impression of how society enjoys the misery of others, as the game itself depicted that it was watched by thousands of people.​

The film gives all shades of human emotions- anger, happiness, sadness, enmity, darkness, kindness, etc. It is like changing weather with each passing scene, the critics add. 

Fans reaction

The audience is not very happy about the film. The majority of the reviews do talk positively, but those who don’t are of the view that the film is “long and boring”. The direction and acting performances are commendable; however, the plot still fails to impress them. ​

The others who enjoyed the film mentioned it to be a bold and violent film, and this is exactly how a Stephen King movie should be. ​

Is it worth watching?

We’ve seen it- now here’s the real talk on whether The Long Walk is worth the ticket price. And I think, NO! Too much talking took the action and theme out of the film.

The idea looked superb when the trailer first came out, although it was quite similar to other game shows, in which the loser is eliminated by shooting him dead. Still, the powerful message that the trailer sent out did not match the full-length feature, where sitting down for one hour and 48 minutes became hard for me.

I could not understand some points: how did Raymond Garraty and Peter McVires not feel the need to go to the washroom? I mean, there were other men who could not hold it any longer, but the two protagonists did not feel anything.​

Again, how did the two protagonists not feel tired AT ALL? They were walking on the same consistent pace for days and were not limping or slowing down, even for a single moment.

And of course, too much talking snatched all the fun away. After the trailer, the official clip of the movie was released on YouTube, and I felt as if a bomb had hit right into my chest when I saw a man getting shot in the head so explicitly that I had falsely set all my bars of expectations quite high.

It’s possible that the talking was done to let the audience know each character in depth and feel connected with all of them, but sadly, that didn’t work for me. There were times when I felt sleepy.  

What we liked

• Strong performances by leads
• Powerful social message
• Concept and trailer impact 
• Critics’ praise

What could be better

• Pacing issues and excessive dialogue
• Unrealistic plot elements
• Underdeveloped supporting cast
• Mismatch between the trailer and the movie
• Missed potential in execution  

Here’s a detailed breakdown of our rating for The Long Walk (2025)

Story/plot	6.5/10
Characters and acting	6.5/10
Direction and pacing	4/10
Visuals and cinematography	7/10
Soundtrack/score	7/10
Themes and message	8/10
Emotional impact	4/10
Creativity/originality	4/10
Rewatchability	2/10

Our rating: 5

 

 

 

 

 

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Is The Long Walk (2025) available for streaming?

Currently, Lionsgate’s The Long Walk (rated R) is playing in cinemas only. It will take three weeks to one month before it comes to digital streaming platforms. 

Genre: Horror

IMDb rating: 7.5

Rotten Tomatoes: 90 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ rating) and 85 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Garrett Wareing, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis 

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: J.T. Mollner, Stephen King

Producers: Francis Lawrence, Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Cameron MacConomy 

Release date: September 12, 2025

Movie runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes 

Do you agree with The Long Walk review here? How did you find the movie? Share your thoughts below.