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The Long Walk Review

  • Writer: Christian D'Andre
    Christian D'Andre
  • Sep 14
  • 6 min read

Today, I got to watch “The Long Walk.” I gotta say, I’m thoroughly impressed. This is a movie that is a little gross at times and deeply disturbing at others. Before I dive into all the details of it all, I’m going to warn you now: I’m going to drop some spoilers. The things I want to talk about are about the ending of the movie, which I can’t talk about without giving you all the info. If you don’t like that, turn back now. 

This movie is about a bunch of kids who enter into this contest called the long walk. Basically, they all have to walk until they drop below a certain speed. They are given water and food, but can’t take bathroom breaks (this comes up on more than one occasion) or rest breaks. If they stop for more than 30 seconds, they lose the game


And their lives


The last man standing gets a lot of money and is granted a wish. 

While several characters get some time in the spotlight, the main storyline is about two friends: Pete and Raymond. For a game that’s set up as a “survival of the fittest,” they’re both surprisingly helpful to the other contestants. They’re encouraging to others and help people up when they fall down. I found this dynamic to be interesting, yet odd. If you’re in a game where everyone must die but you, you kind of are shooting yourself in the foot by helping others out. What if you help someone that winds up out-lasting you? You’ve just lost the game, any goals you want, along with your own life. That’s a bad deal. 

On the other hand, if you really run with the rules of the game, you become heartless. Suddenly the lives of others don’t matter, and you become a monster. I guess, in a way, you don’t really win the long walk at all. Either you lose your life, or you become a much colder person because of everything you went through. Several of the contestants are jerks and pass the time by making fun of others. One character turns into a real bully and gets one of the other kids killed. He goes through a development arc as he wrestles with the guilt of blood being on his hands. I liked it. A lot of bullies stay 2-dimensional. It was a nice touch. 

Eventually, numbers begin to thin and all the forgettable characters inevitably begin to die off. One of the characters that got a little more attention was killed off near the middle of the walk. It was a very proper sendoff for such a memorable character, but it wasn’t saved for the end like I had expected. It was another twist that I really liked. On the same note, two of the more forgettable characters make it to the end, where one of them turns out to be more than meets the eye. Once again, pleasantly fresh twists.

Through the process of weeding people out, Raymond’s character starts to slip. We come to find out that he isn’t such a great guy. He snaps at one point because he knows that it’s a competition where someone wins when everyone else dies. Eventually, we find out that he’s there for revenge. He wants to kill the guy running the long walk because that guy shot his dad right in front of him. He tells Pete that his wish will be for one of the soldier’s rifles, which he will use to gun down the major. When Pete finds out about this, he tells him not to do it. He reminds Raymond that revenge isn’t the answer because there’s so much good in the world that he should be living for. Pete tries to encourage his friend to do good for others instead.

Pete’s hopefulness and positivity hold steady throughout the entire film. He becomes like an anchor for the group, keeping everyone in good spirits and on good terms throughout the walk. Eventually, we find out that his wish is to make it so that two people can win the long walk so that people can make friends along the way. He’s such a wholesome guy that I really wanted him to win the race. I was really scared to see where things were going to end up. 


And I was very right to be scared. 


Eventually, the two friends become the last two walking and the game is on! They don't turn on each other, but both of them know that there’s only one way that this ends: with one of them dead. Pete eventually tries to volunteer, stopping intentionally in the middle of the road, but Raymond doesn’t let him. He convinces his friend to keep walking and he gets back in the race. Except, Raymond quietly stops walking and forfeits the race, and his life, before Pete can say anything. He’s completely devastated to have just lost such a good friend, but he’s declared the winner and asked by the major what his wish is. 

Tension draws as Pete struggles to decide what to wish for. Eventually he utters the words that sent my pulse through the roof


Give me a carbine


Pete points his gun at the major. He debates whether or not he should pull the trigger. And after what feels like an eternity, Pete pulls the trigger and the credits roll. 

This ending shook me. It’s one thing to kill off characters, but at the end of the day, those are just people. What I feel like this movie did was kill off positivity. Pete’s sudden pivot sent a message that the evils of the world can corrupt even the best that humanity has to offer. Ultimately, it felt like it was the death of good and the triumph of evil. Usually bad guys have to win for evil to come out on top, but this was a story of a good guy going bad and I’d say that’s basically the same thing. And the pivot came just late enough that I had truly gotten attached to the idea of good winning. For a second, I genuinely thought it was going to be some kind of happy ending. 

Weird thing, though, is that I actually applaud this movie for the way it ended. I think horror movies are the one genre that could get away with ending on an unsettling note, and they don’t do it enough. Freddy Krueger still gets vanquished, Jason gets chained to the bottom of the lake, and everybody finds out who’s underneath the ghostface mask. Despite being the genre of all things scary and upsetting, horror has a weird shortage of dark, uncomfortable endings. I get that it’s unsettling, but isn’t that the point–to be a little scared? Isn’t that part of what we signed up for? Seems like we ought to have more unhappy endings than what we have these days. 

And how deep this ending runs is crazy to me. It isn’t just about someone being a bad guy, it’s about a symbol being murdered. It reminds me of Christopher Nolan’s Batman, and how he set out to be a symbol of hope. Imagine if everyone found out about Harvey Dent's conversion to two-face, and still blamed Batman for it. He would have failed as a symbol and let his city fall into ruins. Pete, to me, represented light in a dark world. This movie snuffed out that light and took the plunge into complete and utter darkness. I left the theater feeling a little unsettled. 

But it’s a great reminder that everyone is morally corruptible. Everyone can be put in a place where they would make the evil choice. It’s part of why I say we are all sinners. You might be thinking that you have done a little better than the rest; that you aren’t a murderer or anything. Well, you could be a murderer, if you were just in the right place at the right time. Life has a way of wearing us down and corrupting us. I think a lot of us are only good because we were lucky enough to be in the right environments. 

I don’t think we are limited by those environments, though. We still can make choices most of the time. I’m just saying that, on a long enough timeline, our environments will get the best of us. Willpower alone can’t keep us from doing evil things forever. I think the only solution is to get an incorruptible God to show up somehow. How He wants to intervene is up to Him, but I see this as the only real solution. Not so that I can be better, making everyone look at me, but having Him get me through all the rough spots so that He can be seen as the author of my story. That’s what it’s all about. 

Overall, this movie is excellent. The acting is spectacular, the writing is on point and the ending will probably have me a little uncomfortable for a few days. It’s definitely worth seeing. I might even buy a copy for my collection. It’s an excellent movie. 

Until Next Time

May Peace be your Guide.

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