The Long Walk (2025): Cast, Story, Reviews and Where to Stream

Francis Lawrence adapts Stephen King’s first-written novel into a brutal, low-budget survival drama.

By EuroFilm Editorial · October 23, 2026 · 5 min read

The Long Walk is based on one of Stephen King’s earliest novels, published in 1979 under his pen name Richard Bachman. It is directed by Francis Lawrence, who made four of the Hunger Games films, and it covers similar ground in a much smaller, grimmer way.

What is The Long Walk about?

In an alternate 1970s America ruled by a military regime, fifty teenage boys take part in an annual televised contest. They must keep walking at three miles an hour; anyone who falls below that pace three times is shot. The last boy walking wins a fortune. The film focuses on the friendships that form between the walkers as the contest goes on.

The Long Walk cast

Cooper Hoffman plays Ray Garraty and David Jonsson plays Pete McVries, the friend he makes on the road; critics singled out both performances. Mark Hamill plays the Major, who runs the contest, and Judy Greer plays Ray’s mother. The walkers include Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang and Roman Griffin Davis.

What critics said

The film earned 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and 71 on Metacritic. Reviewers praised the lead performances and the emotional bond at the centre of the story; some felt the premise is thin for a feature and that minor characters are underdeveloped. Like the novel, it ends ambiguously, and audiences were split, giving it a B CinemaScore.

Box office

Made for about $20 million, it grossed around $63 million worldwide, a solid return for a bleak, R-rated drama.

Where to watch The Long Walk

It reached digital rental in October 2025 and began streaming on Starz in the US in January 2026.

Is The Long Walk worth watching?

Yes, if you can handle a relentlessly bleak film. It is one of the better recent Stephen King adaptations, carried by two excellent young leads. For a lighter thriller, try The Housemaid.