Parents' Guide to The Long Walk

Unrelentingly brutal (physically, emotionally, and intellectually) but also an intensely rewarding experience, this bloody sci-fi thriller will linger in your brain long after the credits roll. Based on one of Stephen King's earliest books—published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman—The Long Walk is the forerunner of stories like Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, Squid Game, and other tales of dystopian competitions. But it also leaves them behind with its concentrated purity and lack of fancy fuss. Interestingly, it's directed by Francis Lawrence, who helmed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and all of the additional sequels in that series, although he's really stepped up his game here. It probably helps that the screenplay was adapted by JT Mollner, whose movie Strange Darling was a twisty, electrifying look at violence.

The Long Walk has a strong, continuous forward momentum, but it's an unruly story, beginning with 50 characters (all men) and composed mostly of talking. Yet Lawrence and Mollner somehow keep things dynamic and fluid; there's a constant push-pull. This dystopian world is filled with fascist talking points—e.g., books that encourage free thought are banned, there's an "epidemic of laziness," and "we will be #1 in the world again!" But ultimately the movie focuses on and celebrates free thought, as characters debate worldviews and trade ideas while they walk. Almost like the equally powerful flip side to another Stephen King adaptation, the life-affirming The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk is both a tale of friendship and an act of resistance.