The Long Walk

Official Australian release date: 11/9/25. Viewed: 17/9/25.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Actors: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garret Wareing, Mark Hamill
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Rating: MA

‘The Long Walk’ has a premise that is simple, brutal and a bit silly. We’re thrown right in to the starting line of the long walk – an apparently, non-defined dystopian future/past, in an apparent USA (even though filmed in Canada). We meet 50 walkers/participants, one from each state, as they walk without stopping until there’s only one left. Even though the situation is made clear, it only really sinks in after the first 20min or so, when they finally show the title.

We follow a core group of 7 – Ray Garraty (Hoffman – yes, Phillip Seymour’s son), Peter McVries (Jonsson), Arthur Baker (Nyuot), Hank Olson (Wang), Collie Parker (Odjick), Stebbins (Wareing) and Barkovitch (Plummer). Good to see a bunch of young actors making a name for themselves. We don’t see all the deaths, but after a while, it’s hard not to put yourselves in their shoes – how long would I last? What would get me – lack of sleep, cramp/illness/injury, dehydration? As well as those 7 having strong character growth throughout the film, it’s worth mentioning the Major (Hamill, hard to pick in his Aviators, even at night), who is exaggerated malevolence, and Ginnie (Greer), Ray’s mum.

While it may sound boring, it’s quite engrossing, and does well to skip ahead in parts, and have the miles/days occasionally shown to keep pace. It’s relatively quick at 1 hour 45min. I haven’t read the Stephen King book, but this treads the line between horror and hope, like most of his good works do. The film sits somewhere between ‘The Road’ and ‘The Purge’, with a hint of ‘The Green Mile’. The friendship that grows between Ray & Pete is the core of the film and highlights the importance of finding light in the darkness.

Overall: Relentless, sometimes shocking, solid thriller

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

 

The Roses

Official Australian release date: 4/9/25. Viewed: 6/9/25.
Director: Jay Roach
Actors: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘The Roses’ is a reimagining of 1989’s ‘The War of the Roses’, which I should note I’ve not seen, nor have I read the book. We start with Ivy (Colman) and husband Theo (Cumberbatch), on a therapy couch. We then go back to when they first met, and skip to a few years later when they have 2 kids, Hattie & Roy, when Theo’s architecture dreams quite literally come crashing down. Ivy’s restaurant becomes successful, and they swap their parenting roles.

It's mostly a rom-com, with the whole mad-cap, escalating situations to try to divorce each other only taking up the last 20min or so. Colman and Cumberbatch are both good, and we probably need more screentime from friends Barry (Samberg) & Amy (McKinnon), and Rory (Demetriou) & Sally (Chao). Like most things in films, all the issues in their relationship are exaggerated, with no real unforgiveable sins committed. The house on the northern California coast does look amazing.

It's quite quick at 100min, but still drags a little in the middle. The ending is maybe not as shocking as I was expecting, but absurd enough. A few good laughs, solid performances, but given it’s from the director of the ‘Austin Powers’ films, it’s not as funny or silly as I was hoping – probably closer to Roach’s ‘Dinner For Schmucks’.

Overall: Passable rom-com-gone-wrong

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars