According to Rotten Tomatoes, ‘The Long Walk’ Is the Best Stephen King Movie Ever

“You walk as long as you can. But sometimes the body won’t listen. For some, your heart will stop. For others, your brain. And the blood will flow… suddenly. There’s one winner and no finish line.”

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Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Academy Award-winning actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, stars as Ray Garraty in The Long Walk, now in theaters.

The Long Walk is a dystopian survival thriller based on a story by Stephen King. It hits theaters this weekend and early reviews have it at a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the highest rated King adaptation ever. This is especially impressive as King is such a prolific and popular author that there are at least 76 adaptations of his works.

So, what is The Long Walk all about?

Boys walk until they die in The Long Walk.

The story takes place in a dystopian America run by a totalitarian government. Every year, boys aged 13-18 volunteer for a competition in which they walk for as long as they can. Boys who stop walking or fail to keep a pace of 3 miles per hour (a rigorous 4 miles per hour in the book) are shot by armed guards who trek along with the racers. The winner of the long walk receives a vague prize of “whatever he wants”.

A 16-year-old boy named Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) is the protagonist of The Long Walk and the novel is told through his perspective. During the race Garraty befriends other participants including the cynical Peter McVries (David Jonsson), friendly Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot), arrogant Hank Olson (Ben Wang), and the mysterious Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), who keeps to himself. Unsure he has what it takes to win, Garraty is determined to survive at least until they reach Freeport, Maine where his girlfriend will be waiting in the crowd.

As the race goes on, boys begin to die and the dwindling survivors begin to question the totalitarian government and the Major (Mark Hamill), the leader of the secret police who is in charge of the long walk.

What is the best Stephen King adaptation?

There are some low budget King adaptations (that are nevertheless beloved and scary) like The Langoliers (1995) but there are also King adaptations that are praised for their quality. Notably, Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990). Four other King movies have been nominated for Oscars: Carrie (1976), Stand by Me (1986), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999). Wikipedia has a list of all 76 Stephen King adaptations here.

Rotten Tomatoes has a ranking of 68 Stephen King adaptations based on aggregating reviews. On that list, the best Stephen King movies are currently:

  • Carrie (1976) with a 94% rating.
  • Stand By Me (1986) with a 92% rating.
  • 1922 (2017) with a 92% rating.
  • Gerald’s Game (2017) with a 91% rating.
  • Misery (1990) with a 91% rating.

The Long Walk is now in theaters.

Further reading:

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Chrissy is the co-founder of Creepy Catalog. She has over 10 years of experience writing about horror, a degree in philosophy and Reiki level II certification.

Chrissy Stockton