“The Long Walk” is the latest film to focus on young adults locked into a violent competition where there is only one winner.
The adaptation of the Stephen King novel has terrified, horrified and sparked a need for more stories that are similar. Obvious comparisons to “The Long Walk” include “The Hunger Games” franchise and “Squid Game,” but there’s plenty of bleak competition–based violence to go around.
Here are seven movies and shows to check out after watching “The Long Walk.”
The Hunger Games
“The Hunger Games” is the obvious comparison to people talking about “The Long Walk.” Francis Lawrence has made a successful career directing the lion’s share of adaptations for Suzanne Collins’ books and also took the helm of “The Long Walk,” so visually there is a throughline.
“The Hunger Games” franchise may not have the gruesome, in your face violence “The Long Walk” has but the soul of both stories obviously resonate. If you’ve somehow missed these movies, there’s no better time than in a post-“Long Walk” high to jump into them.
Squid Game
“Squid Game” became a cultural moment the second the Korean drama series landed on Netflix in 2021. The concept is simple – people down on their luck compete in a variety of childhood classic games with a bloody twist to win increasingly higher amounts of money.
Like “The Long Walk,” “Squid Game” makes capitalism and a troubled economy a core villain of the story as VIPs watch the contestants compete in things like Tug of War and Red Rover and risk death to make a bit more money.
The Maze Runner
“The Long Walk” beat a lot of authors to the punch when it came to the “watching teenagers fight and die in a competition for amusement” genre, but the 2010s really popped off. “The Maze Runner” is another product of that era.
While never quite reaching the highs of “The Hunger Games” or “The Long Walk,” if you’re looking for something new but in that depraved genre you could do far worse than this trilogy of films. And Dylan O’Brien elevates just about everything he is in.
Battle Royale
A true OG in the kid-killing competition genre. In a way, “Battle Royale” is the grandfather of all of the films and shows on this list. The 2000 Japanese film follows a group of 42 freshmen in high school who wake up on an island with bomb collars strapped to their neck. The order is to kill one another until only one student remains, who is allowed to leave the island.
“Battle Royale” has been remade and spoofed and tributed into oblivion at this point. High time to check out the source material.
Black Mirror
If what you’re looking for is more slightly off realities where things have gone just askew to be recognizable but still very upsetting, then “Black Mirror” episodes can keep you fed for weeks. One of the unanswered but intriguing questions about “The Long Walk” is what happened to America to make it so they’ve been televising this game for years on end. We may not find out, but it’s yet another unsettling aspect of the film.
“Black Mirror” is all about near-future versions of Earth where technology has made things worse in macro or micro ways. There are even some episodes about near-dystopian competitions being televised for the pleasure of others. Dive on in.
The Society
May “The Society” never be forgotten. An unfortunate TV casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic – meaning the show was initially renewed for Season 2 before later being canceled – this Netflix series had all the makings of the next “teens thrust into a mysterious and violent event with a lack of adults.”
“The Society” follows a few busloads of kids who are forced to turn around on their way to a camping trip during a lightning storm. Upon arrival back in their town they find all the adults to be gone and they can’t leave town. It’s modern-day “Lord of the Flies” and it should have ran for at least five seasons.
The Running Man
“The Running Man” is the other horrific competition-based story Stephen King wrote. The ’80s adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger does not follow the book that closely but if you want to watch another story penned by the King of Horror about a man trying to get a leg up on life through a dark and violent competition you could do worse.
The story follows Ben Richards who is picked to compete in The Running Man. The rules are simple: survive for a month being hunted by any and everyone who wants. If you win you’re rich beyond you’re wildest dreams, if you lose you’re dead.
A new version of “The Running Man” is right around the corner directed by Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell, so maybe hold out for that version.
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