This year has been a gold mine of Stephen King adaptations. First, Osgood Perkins wrote and directed an adaptation of King’s story “The Monkey” starring Theo James as twin brothers who are cursed by a horrifying toy monkey. Then came “The Life of Chuck,” a non-horror, more life-affirming King adaptation from writer/director Mike Flanagan.
And then, we got what is probably the best King adaptation of the year so far, called “The Long Walk,” written for the screen by J.T. Mollner and directed by Francis Lawrence. Like Lawrence’s work in The Hunger Games franchise, The Long Walk is about young people in a dystopian future coerced into competing to the death by their corrupt government. “The Long Walk” was the first novel a young Stephen King completed, even though he didn’t release it until years later when he published it under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.
The Long Walk the novel is an angry burst of youthful outrage written during the Vietnam War in America, a time when young men were drafted into an unpopular fight. One of King’s most sour novels, it’s full of rage. With this adaptation, Lawrence keeps that anger front and center, filtering the novel’s terse dialogue and sensibilities through two masterful performances from Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, who take turns charming and dazzling the audience amid the film’s blood-stained march toward death.
Tense, horrifying, and bursting with life, The Long Walk is a Stephen King adaptation worth seeking out. It may not be as classically horror as films like Carrie or It, but it isn’t quite the heartwarming stuff of The Shawshank Redemption or Stand By Me either. In a time where new King adaptations are being served to audiences seemingly all the time, The Long Walk stands out for its nasty intensity. It’s a riveting and anxiety-fueled big screen adventure that will give you a little bit of hope and a whole lot of dread.
Leo has run the gamut of roles for the past 30-odd years. His personal life has become the stuff of tabloid fodder and social media snark, but every time he shows up on screen, you can’t help but be captivated. Always exploring, always relating, and often helping create masterpieces with master directors.
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