‘Phenomenal’ Stephen King dystopian thriller is now on Amazon Prime

Adaptations of Stephen King’s works can vary from the stone-cold masterpieces – think Carrie, The Shining and Misery – to the best left forgotten (sorry, Dreamcatcher).

The legendary horror writer has had over 100 film and TV adaptations of his work, with four of them coming in 2025 alone.

We had the more fantastical The Life of Chuck, the gruesome torment of The Monkey, and the sci-fi action remake The Running Man.

But the best of them? That title comfortably belongs to The Long Walk – and it is making big steps up the Amazon Prime Video charts.

Based on King’s 1979 novella, The Long Walk, stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, alongside Mark Hamill and Judy Greer, and depicts a grim vision of the future.

It follows 100 teenage boys who are forced to participate in a gruelling walking contest where falling below a set pace means death.

As the relentless journey unfolds, the competitors face both physical torment and psychological collapse as they battle to survive.

The eerie flick is directed by someone who knows his way around a teenage dystopian, that being Francis Lawrence, who helmed four of The Hunger Games movies (he is also directing this year’s Sunrise on the Reaping.

What did critics make of The Long Walk?

Released last September, The Long Walk gained a great deal of praise from several film critics, earning an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s Better in the Dark’s Anthony Morris penned: ‘Powerful, gut-wrenching and relentless, The Long Walk is a straightforward idea taken to a brutally logical conclusion. This walk will stay with you long after the end credits.’

Leo Brady of AMovieGuy.com agreed: ‘The Long Walk is a bleak and haunting film, heartbreaking and, at times, strangely inspiring.’

Nikki Baughan from Screen International penned: ‘Unrelentingly bleak and utterly brutal, it’s one of the most powerful King features for some time.’

‘Bleak, unflinching, and unexpectedly moving, The Long Walk is both a faithful King adaptation and one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences in years,’ Linda Marric of HeyUGuys posted.

‘Not for the faint of heart – but easily one of the best films of 2025 so far.’

Collider’s Jeff Ewing commented: ‘The Long Walk’s steadfast focus on the lives and emotions of the walkers themselves is an exceptional choice, allowing the film to be tense, moving, and complex.

‘It’s one of the best horror movies of the year.’

‘Francis Lawrence brilliantly adapts Stephen King’s The Long Walk into a harrowing cinematic journey with profound philosophical depth,’ Julian Roman, from MovieWeb, added.

What about the fans?

Many King fans have echoed the positive critical reception as well, with the movie rocking an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes – as well as earning a ‘B’ Cinemascore grade upon its release in the US (a rare high score for the genre).

User Luis F @Luis98 on Rotten Tomatoes wrote that the acting and script were ‘phenomenal, and the chemistry between the actors felt real and raw.’

‘Absolutely astonishing’ wrote Gracie C @RT66502137. ‘Beautiful cinematic work and characters. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.’

Over on Reddit, MrArmageddon12 named it as ‘one of my favourite films of the year.’

‘I was genuinely surprised by it’ wrote user ItsGageW. ‘Not only at how solid the acting, pacing and story itself were but also how much it stuck with me. My only problem with it was the ending, it didn’t quite do it for me, but overall really enjoyed it!’

Elsewhere on Letterboxd, user Lil Bo Deek described it as a ‘harrowing, patiently devised descent into a capitalist nightmare.

‘In a year that hasn’t been all that inspired, this was a great surprise.’

As for myself, I echo the sentiments that speak to the surprising depth of the performances, with David Jonsson in particular proving why he is one of the most exciting British talents working in Hollywood today.

It’s a dark but intriguing high concept, one that is well executed with a great sense of momentum and a strong focus on character that makes everything click.

The Long Walk can be pretty harrowing, but it makes for a thoroughly compelling and resonant tale that leaves its mark and stands tall as a worthwhile King adaptation.

What did you make of The Long Walk? Have your say in the comments belowComment Now

What has Stephen King said about it?

Speaking to Movieweb last summer, director Lawrence shared King’s initial reaction to the movie, and it sounds like the author was a fan himself.

‘He had to approve me and JT, all of that, which was fine. We had to share the script, which was probably the scariest moment, because we had made some tweaks to certain things.

‘He luckily liked it and approved it, which was great. Then we went and made the movie and when we felt like we were really pretty damn close to being at the finished product after some test screenings and things like that, we sent it to him, and he had a really nice call with me and seemed to enjoy the movie very much.’

Ever the active tweeter, King was regularly posting on X during the time of the film’s release to encourage audiences to seek it out.

During an AMA (ask me anything) session on Reddit last year, he shed light on how the project came to be.

He authored The Long Walk in the 70s under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, and recently shared that the book actually gave him ‘sleepless nights’ while working on it.

SoFlyInTheSky asked him: ‘Hey Stephen. Long time fan. My question is this: when you’re writing a book like “The Longest Walk” are there ever times when you’re writing a scene that even you have to put the pen down because it gets too dark?’

‘There was a scene in the book where Gary Barkovich ripped out his own throat,’ he replied. ‘That gave me a few sleepless nights.’

When questioned about his process was for adapting the book to the big screen, he added: ‘I heard Francis Lawrence was on board to direct, with JT Mollner to do the screenplay, and I said, “Go for it.”

‘Love how it turned out.’

The Long Walk is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video

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