I have constantly praised 2025 for how much it has been treating us horror fans with some of its heavy hitters like Sinners, Weapons, and 28 Years Later. We are not even in October yet, and we have had some of the best horror has to offer. But the best part is, we have been treated to so many different types of horror films, and yet so many have been brilliant. 28 Years Later brought the zombie genre new life, Sinners was a victory for folk horror, and Weapons brought out an allegorical terror that feeds off some of society’s worst fears, whilst having a supernatural flair. Yet with all these films, horror this year is still not done exploring the depths of the psyche and societal problems. The new Stephen King adaptation of The Long Walk releases in UK cinemas tomorrow, and it shows these things under the thrill and tension of a survival horror format. Director Francis Lawrence has yet another dystopian fiction film under his belt, being famous for the likes of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and I am Legend. Though I did not think much of the trailers, The Long Walk turned out to be a wonderful surprise for me, and it yet again shows this is a fated year for horror brilliance.

The Long Walk is set in a dystopian representation of the USA ruled by a totalitarian regime that has stripped the country of anything that makes life worth living. Books and art are mostly banned, and many people are in extreme poverty, fighting to do whatever they can to get money. This brings us to the titular competition that has 50 young men walk as far as they can, whilst maintaining a speed of 3 miles per hour or above consistently. Should they fall below this threshold, they will get a warning, and after three warnings, they will be shot with no mercy. With no finish line, the last man standing is the only one to claim an unspecified but enormous cash prize and also one wish for whatever they desire. Overseen by the vicious Major (Mark Hamill), these boys provide a spectacle for the country just for a chance of escaping the dystopian reality that has consumed them all their lives. During this endeavour, we are placed with Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman). Arriving with his distraught mother (Judy Greer), who waves him off in tears, Ray enters the mess of the other competitors. He strikes a bond with some of his opponents, most notably Pete McVries (David Jonsson), with whom, through the experience, he forms a real connection. As they walk on, their chances of winning increase as their peers die. Ray and his newfound friends examine how their lives and societal issues have brought them to this horrible position.

My main reservations going into this were how this was essentially another dystopian gimmick film directed by Francis Lawrence. It feels very much like a ‘young adult fiction’ story among the likes of The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner, and where I thought that would be to its detriment, it works extremely well. It is reminiscent of narratives like that purely from its framework, but the main difference is where Lawrence directs his focus here. The plot is very blatant and surrounds everything, but it is the characters that take front and centre, becoming a more character-focused narrative. We are stuck with Ray and Pete for this whole story, learning their stories and motivations as the film progresses. They are both extremely compelling characters, expertly written to open us up to sympathy towards them. Pete’s story is particularly interesting, and it certainly provides a lot of the film’s sentiment and heart. We learn early on that he is an orphan, and his reasoning for entering this walk was that he did not have much to lose. He has a drive to get that money and the wish to make a difference in the world, supporting those who need it. This is completely different from other character motivations, a lot of which are less mature and calculated. Hank Olson (Ben Wang), for example, jokes that his wish would be for ‘ten naked ladies’, and that alone shows that most of these lads are still young and immature, with no place in the horrible situation they have put themselves in out of desperation. Ray’s own motivations are also incredibly interesting and serve as a mystery through most of the film, which I will not do you the displeasure of spoiling. All the characters, even the smaller ones, are fleshed out to an exceptional degree, and it makes it all the more impactful when one has to be left behind.

The hole that is left when somebody in this film dies is significant, mostly for what it does to the dynamic of the boys, but also for the pace of the narrative. Each scene of someone getting that final warning and biting the bullet gets increasingly intense and harrowing as fewer people are left. In the beginning, the vibe is like that of a school trip, and nobody seems phased about what is going on. However, when the first person dies, reality sets in for everyone, and they are all much more on edge. This tension builds and builds, increasing with each death until the numbers really start to thin. It is all executed incredibly well, and the pace at which this all happens is in a perfectly gradual manner. With its well-written conversations and wonderful character work, it has a way of leading into a false sense of security, which is then immediately shattered once the soldier fires his carbine. The echoing sound of the gun is as effective as the cannon in The Hunger Games, feeling the weight of what has just happened, all contained within the sound. Some sequences contain a lot more death than others; one point where a few die leaves the camaraderie and bravado of the boys in tatters. The exceptional performances deliver visceral reactions to each beat like this and accentuate the dread that comes upon them at each point. Cooper Hoffman’s performance is very good, and he is always at the forefront of these moments, reacting to the chaos and being beside himself as to why he is doing this. However, David Jonsson’s performance is the real treat, mostly for his beautiful subtlety. In the harrowing moments and the more sentimental, he commands the screen like nobody else, really connecting you to his character. It has an argument for one of the best performances of the year, and if it were not for genre bias, he might even pick an Oscar nomination up for this.

The Long Walk is a very welcome surprise for me, and it is another horror banger for 2025. A very different kind of horror, rather than outright scares, this is a tense thrill that creeps up on you whenever you start to feel comfortable listening to what it has to say. The dialogue is brilliant, the concept is brutal and unforgiving, and the performances hammer those harrowing aspects home whilst showing so much humanity at the same time. This film says a lot about the exploitation of the lower class and those who are full of desperation to make their lives better in the name of spectacle. It is about trying to make a difference when you feel like you have no place to do so, and even amongst this film’s brutality, there is a degree of hope that things will get better. This is not only one of the best horrors of the year but also one of the best films in general, and you must give it a watch.