The Long Walk (what to expect)

Scorecard, Watchlist Worthy, Red Cap Essay

The Venice Film Festival wrapped up last weekend and it seems like they were handing out standing ovations like festival-branded drawstring bags. The Rock, for his work in The Smashing Machine, received a 15-minute standing ovation. We have to ask: what happens around minute eight? Your hands are numb from clapping, the tiny muscles in your mouth are fatigued from smiling so much, and you wonder if that tower of nachos you saw in the lobby will still be there when you’re done. Either way, we can’t wait to watch for ourselves next month.

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Here’s what we have for you this week:

Concession Stand Scorecard: The Long Walk
Watchlist Worthy: The World’s Greatest Detective is Back
Red Cap Essay: What’s Your Favorite Movie?

We go to the movies every week to let you know if the latest films are worth the price of admission and what you can expect. Always spoiler free.

This week’s movie - The Long Walk

Letterboxd Description:

The task is simple: walk or die.

Every year, fifty teenage boys meet for an event known throughout the country as “The Long Walk.” Among this year’s chosen crop is “Maine’s Own,” Ray Garraty. He knows the rules: that warnings are issued if you fall under speed, stumble, sit down. That after three warnings- you get your ticket. And what happens then serves as a chilling reminder that there can be only one winner in the Walk. The one that survives.

Best Watched With

A friend who sees light even in the darkness.

End Credit Thoughts

The Long Walk is the latest adaptation from the brilliant mind of Stephen King. Carrie was King’s first published novel, but The Longest Walk is his first written novel. Drawn up in the 60s when King was a freshman at the University of Maine, and first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, we finally get to see his first go at worldbuilding on the big screen. And it’s a grim one.

Dull skies hang over a seemingly never-ending road surrounded by desolation and despair; the set designs darkly show us a dystopian version of the United States. After a major war, teenagers volunteer to submit their names to a lottery from which only 50 are selected. The stories carried and shared by hopeful kids from across the country add to the kind of life it is for American citizens. They know the risk is their very lives. They know the odds. They know it won’t be easy. But knowing the reward and what kind of life it can buy gives them hope and motivation to put one foot in front of the other. And the filmmakers spare no expense to communicate just how inhumane the long walk is.

The sound design and cinematography are heavy lifters when it comes to how stressful and terrifying this movie is. Like a solitary theater stage, but on a flat escalator, it feels like one movie set; however, we never got bored with the stage that was set. From what they choose to show to what they choose not to—but can be heard—makes the heart race well above a resting rate as if we were walking beside each character. Will we get used to it? Will we become desensitized to senseless death? We asked these questions while watching, fearing the answer.

The dialogue is gripping and thought-provoking. There is an odd sense of freedom to speak one’s mind when one has a 2% probability of surviving. Do you show your humanity? Or does this ruthless event take it from you? The actors do the heaviest of lifting by displaying heartfelt, bone-chilling, and a spectrum of emotionally riddled performances.

Cooper Hoffman as Raymond Garraty #47 lives up to the thespian legacy left by his father, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Mark Hamill is menacing as The Major, a character that could have easily been overcooked. The star for us is David Jonsson as Peter McVries #23. This guy has yet to disappoint us in any role. He shows up and bleeds on set, giving his all to every line of dialogue and every action taken. He has the juice, and we won’t be surprised when he wins an Academy Award within the next ten years.

This movie is not for the queasy and the faint of heart. It is as brutal as it sounds. From the topics of conversation to the gruesome imagery, the viewing is uncomfortable at times and unsettling throughout. If you can stomach the ideas and visuals, the 68th King adaptation (according to Rotten Tomatoes) is worthy of the price of admission.

See it on the big screen.

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A movie one of us added to our Letterboxd watchlist this week.

‘WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2026) by Rian Johnson

I’m a big fan of the first Knives Out, and I thought Glass Onion was fun, but mid. WUDM looks like a completely fresh approach to a tried-and-true format. Get a bunch of morally questionable people in a church and murder a priest. What a whacky, fun idea for a movie. This franchise is known for the all-star cast, but this group might be my favorite so far. Stoked to see this one in theaters and then again on Netflix the next week. 😅

Added to my watchlist.

NMD

Letterboxd Description:

Not all secrets can stay buried.

When young priest Jud Duplenticy is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.

Also Directed by Rian Johnson:
Knives Out (2019)
Glass Onion (2022)
Looper (2012)

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