Texas wins the first US stop for D&D immersive experience

2025 was an impressively prolific year as far as Stephen King's adaptation is concerned. This year has already brought the horror films The Monkey (based on a 1980 short story) and The Sentimental The Life of Chuck (based on a 2020 short story). Another film came in 1979, which delves deep into King's prolific archives, which came out of the original book (under King's pseudonym, Richard Bachmann). In the world of cinema, young men from all 50 states volunteer to the lottery and compete for a chance to win a massive amount of prize money in a competition called the Long Walk. Catching is not a race, but a feat of durability, as all participants need to maintain speeds at least about 3 miles until only one person remains. Those who cannot do so are given a series of three warnings until they are finally – and brutally shot. Peter McVries (David Jonsson), a friendly and confident man. Gary Berkovitch (Charlie Plummer) appears to be hostile to everyone he meets. Hank Olson (Ben Wang), a mouth-like child working with Raymond and Peter. Meanwhile, the group is urged by a Major (Mark Hamill), directed by Francis Lawrence and written by J.T. Molner, who appears to have great joy in their suffering. Much of the dialogue is between Raymond and Peter, who becomes a fast friend and shares practical and philosophical ideas. The walk literally doesn't stop, so even scenes with nothing special but the story has a natural driving force. However, the details of the story can be a bit confusing. The film is clearly set at some point in the mid-20th century. All vehicles come from that era, and all young men wear clothes and shoes that are far from modern times. But they also have no choice but to take part in the lottery due to competition where all young people are likely to die. The reality of the Alternative Universe takes time to get used to Lawrence, who directed all the Hunger Games films, but it also brings groups of young people to face each other in television scenes featuring graphic violence. If you do, this film is easy to read as an explanation of the current state of the world that is closer to reality than perhaps even King could predict. In a short career, including films such as Licolis Pizza and Saturday Night, Hoffman has already proven himself as a worthy successor to his late father, Philip Seymour Hoffman. He has a natural sympathy for his performance that draws you in and has the talent to bring out the best of every line. Johnson is his equality here, and perhaps even more convincing, as the British actor uses awful voices and a bit of a face to make a big difference. While it is difficult to classify such films as “entertainment,” Hoffman, Johnson and others' performances make for great watches despite their cruelty.