As we march nearer to The Lengthy Stroll’s launch on the 2025 film schedule, first reactions are coming in, they usually’re complimentary but horrific. That is sensible for this movie a couple of group of boys who’re strolling for his or her lives and might be killed in the event that they cease. Nevertheless, there’s extra nuance to this common consensus. So, right here’s what journalists are saying after the primary screenings of the extremely anticipated book-to-screen adaptation.
This upcoming Stephen King movie is all a couple of group of boys who’re despatched out to stroll for his or her lives. The trailers for The Lengthy Stroll alone are tragic, so it’s not a shock that Francis Lawrence’s movie packs an excellent heavier punch. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff famous that emotional depth too, as she wrote on X:
[The Long Walk] is definitely one of the vital intense emotional wallops of the 12 months. I’ve learn that guide fairly a couple of occasions. You’d assume I’d be ready to abdomen the story’s themes and most gut-wrenching moments. Nope. I’m exhausted – and the film earned it.
She particularly gave “a lot respect” to the movie’s screenwriter, JT Mollner, and its director, Lawrence, for “not holding again” when it got here to displaying simply how darkish and disturbing this story is. She additionally complimented the movie’s “coronary heart,” saying that whereas the subject material is horrific, the venture continues to be “soulful.”
CinemaBlend’s personal Eric Eisenberg shared the same sentiment on Blue Sky. He known as this film a “excellent adaptation” of the guide that left him with a knot in his abdomen, he wrote:
I had an hour-long drive house after my screening of THE LONG WALK, and I could not hearken to music or an audiobook; I simply needed to sit in silence with the knot in my abdomen. It is a highly effective, gripping and stunning movie that could be a excellent adaptation of the Stephen King supply materials. Unforgettable.
He particularly praised the movie’s “wonderful performances,” calling out the leads, Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, in addition to Mark Hamill and Judy Greer.
Journalist Courtney Howard additionally praised Hoffman and Jonsson, writing on X that the 2 main males on the stroll have been “distinctive.” She additionally in contrast this new and emotional movie to classics like The Outsiders and Full Metallic Jacket, writing:
[The Long Walk] homes pitch excellent, distinctive performances from Cooper Hoffman & David Jonsson. Visceral, gripping, emotional & provocative, a superb Stephen King adaptation & 1 of the 12 months’s finest movies. A towering achievement harking back to The Outsiders & Full Metallic Jacket.
“Distinctive” was additionally a time period journalist Rendy Jones used to explain Hoffman and Jonsson’s performances. He known as out The Lengthy Stroll’s R-rating too, noting that it allowed Lawrence to discover themes he’s addressed in The Starvation Video games in an much more visceral and violent manner. He wrote:
[The Long Walk] lets Francis Lawrence go HUNGER GAMES mode with a tough R-rating. Heavy, gory, and soul-wrenching adaptation with the aptitude of an 80s studio thriller bounded by two distinctive performances. Cooper Hoffman is nice however David Jonsson sprints with mesmerizing charisma.
It can’t be understated that those that have seen this film like it, however have been additionally emotionally eviscerated by it. As somebody who can’t even get by means of The Lengthy Stroll trailers, I already know I’ll be a large number. And after studying Inverse’s Lyvie Scott’s response, I’m 100% sure that can occur now:
[The Long Walk] tore my coronary heart out. It’s a shocking, stunning, endlessly evocative highway journey that’s not a highway journey with two flawless performances at its heart. Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson have been born to stroll beside one another. Somebody’s getting my remedy invoice!!
Subsequent Greatest Image’s Matt Neglia’s response was a bit extra important than the above responses. Nevertheless, he was nonetheless total complimentary of the King adaptation, writing partly:
THE LONG WALK lastly brings Stephen King’s 1979 dystopian novel to the display in an adaptation that preserves its core essence whereas making a couple of shocking adjustments that not solely labored for me but in addition made this impactful story resonate much more for our darkish and troubled occasions. Mark Hamill leans a bit too closely into the Main’s villainy, however Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson ship highly effective, magnetic & relatable performances of outstanding depth, grounding the movie in profound emotion and humanity by means of their characters’ brotherhood within the face of totalitarian oppression & sure demise.
He known as the “journey” “exhausting but gripping,” and that appears to be the general consensus amongst those that have already gone on The Lengthy Stroll.
Properly, there you may have it, first reactions are overwhelmingly optimistic for this upcoming horror film, nonetheless, in addition they make it clear that viewers ought to proceed with warning in the event that they go to the theaters on September 12. The Lengthy Stroll pulls no punches, and absolutely leans into its visceral, jarring and disturbing story whereas nonetheless having a coronary heart, which is strictly what it wanted to do to be nice.