The latest Stephen King adaptation, The Long Walk, has released in theaters to a positive critical and fan reception. Directed by Francis Lawrence and written by J.T. Mollner, the film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Charlie Plummer, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.

It follows a young man named Ray Garraty (Hoffman) who is selected to participate in the Long Walk, a government scheme in which one young man from each state participates in a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly walking contest in which the winner receives financial stability and one wish. Participants cannot break their pace of 3 miles per hour, down from the novel’s 4 miles an hour, or they will “receive their ticket,” a euphemism for dying.

Set in a dystopian alternate United States, the film explores themes of vengeance, solidarity, integrity, and implicit submission. It is based on the novel of the same name, though certain elements have been changed. For example, Garraty’s friend and ally throughout the Long Walk, Peter McVries (Jonsson), receives a more sympathetic backstory.

Likewise, the ending received a creative overhaul. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Lawrence explained:

“I knew that people were really gonna love McVries. What I also loved about it was, just narratively, the idea that we open on a kid in a car and the audience is gonna be programmed to believe, clearly, here’s our winner. I love turning that on its head and going, ‘Guess what?! He’s not the winner.'”

However, that was not the only major change made to The Long Walk‘s story. In the novel, Garraty’s father had also died, but the film adds a new layer to this by having the Major (Hamill) be the killer. Lawrence explained that his and Mollner’s Garraty had “different motives for going into the Long Walk:” chiefly, revenge and his mother.

As a result, this affected how he approached the ending of the film. The director stated: “You don’t really want the guy who’s in it for vengeance to win, right? Because that’s really not what the story’s about.”

What Francis Lawrence’s Comments Mean For The Long Walk

Both the film and the novel have a tragic ending for Garraty, but in very different ways. While the kindhearted McVries wins in the movie, Garraty comes out on top in the original story. However, it is far from a happy ending as he walks off into the darkness after a mysterious figure, the implication being he won the game but lost his mind.

McVries winning does, as Lawrence stated, subvert expectations. Audiences expect their point-of-view character to be the winner, and book readers would expect Garraty to win. This is heightened by The Long Walk using the scene where McVries sits down to let Garraty win, only this time, the latter picks him back up and sacrifices himself.

As a result, McVries uses his wish to request a gun and kills the Major himself, making good on Garraty’s revenge. It mirrors the novel’s ending in a way, because in enacting his friend’s plan, McVries loses a part of himself. Throughout The Long Walk, McVries maintained an optimistic spirit and discussed how murder takes the beauty out of life. Making this character a murderer himself shows that the cost of the walk outweighed his gain.

Our Take On Francis Lawrence’s Comments About The Long Walk Ending

While the ending of The Long Walk is a significant departure from the novel, it still carries a tonal resonance that reflects the themes of the film. Interestingly, Hamill revealed in the same interview that King “loved” the new ending. At its core, The Long Walk tells the story of a young man led by a corrupt system to pursue glory, the bonds he forges along the way, and the limits of his internal morality, regardless of which ending audiences consume.