The Long Walkhas been heaped with praise in its first social media reactions. The upcoming movie, which was directed by Francis Lawrence (theHunger Gamesfranchise) from a screenplay by JT Mollner (Strange Darling) is based on a Stephen King novel that follows a deadly competition where teenage boys are forced to walk until only one is left standing.
TheupcomingThe Long Walkfeatures a star-studded ensemble cast.The young actors playing the walkers includeLicorice Pizza’s Cooper Hoffman,Alien: Romulus' David Jonsson,Jojo Rabbit’s Roman Griffin Davis,Karate KId: Legends' Ben Wang, andAll the Money in the World’s Charlie Plummer.
They are joined by a number of notable performers playing the adult characters, includingMark Hamill as the Major, who enforces the rules of the competition, and Judy Greer as Mrs. Garraty, the mother of Cooper Hoffman’s character.
The embargo has now been lifted on spoiler-free social media reactions to early screenings ofThe Long Walk, less than a month ahead of the movie’s debut on September 12. Although some critics and journalists had a few issues with the movie,the overall tone is overwhelmingly positive, with viewers almost unilaterally praising the two lead performances.
See select social media reactions below:
Andrew J. Salazarsaid that “Francis Lawrence pulls no punches” with the story’s political themes, while “Cooper Hoffman & David Jonsson steal the entire film with grace.”
In spite of suggesting that it is a little too long,Russ Milheimalso praised Hoffman and Jonsson and calledThe Long Walk"an incredibly harrowing, terrifying, and traumatizing film."
Matt Negliahad quibbles about the broadness of Mark Hamill’s performance, but said that the filmmakers have “done the grim book justice” by making the project “hard-R brutal.”
Chris Gallardo, who also praised Hoffman and Jonsson, said that “it’s Stephen King in the vein of Hunger Games: purely intense.”
Jacob Fisherpromised that “this is one of the most intense & emotional films you’ll watch all year,” also finding time to praise the two young leads.
Slasher Reviewsadded that “by the end, I was soaked in my tears.”
What This Means For The Long Walk
Because it was directed by Francis Lawrence, who hasdirected four of the five extantHunger Gamesmovies(in addition to helming the upcoming prequelSunrise on the Reaping), it was perhaps inevitable thattheLong Walkmoviewould spark comparisons to that dystopian young adult franchise.
However, the source novel (which was written using the pseudonym Richard Bachman) wasoriginally published in 1979, many years before the 2008 debut of the originalHunger Gamesnovel and the 1999 publication of the similarly themed Japanese novelBattle Royale.
The fact that the reactions to theStephen King moviehave mentioned the prolific author much more thanThe Hunger Gameswould seem to indicate that the movie does indeed evoke his authorial voicerather than mimicking the more recent dystopian franchise.
Our Take On The Long Walk Reactions
I am somewhat surprised that the only mention of Mark Hamill in these early reactions toThe Long Walkwas to criticize his performance. After his showstopping supporting role in the earlier 2025 Stephen King movieThe Life of Chuck,it seemed like Hamill would be delivering another arresting performanceas one of the author’s characters.
While other viewers could potentially still find that to be the case,The Long Walkis clearly dominated by the performances of Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. This is hardly a demerit for the movie, as the young characters are the most important, both to the plot of the novel and to its themes.
