Based on Stephen Kings first novel The Long Walk should have been titled the long slog as fine performances from its young cast can’t disguise the fact that the story is as thin as the paper on a page of the Stephen King novel that it’s based on.

Set in a dystopian future in the US, where books are burnt and people are executed for speaking out against the regime, a group of young men, overseen by the evil major (Mark Hamill), are forced to walk with the last one standing being offered what ever he wishes for. The only catch is if you fall below a certain speed, veer off the course or break any other of the numerous rules then you end up with a bullet in your head.

David Jonsson, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Cooper Hoffman are all terrific but are burdened by a storyline that mostly amounts to them talking (and walking) interspaced with young men having their brains blown out.

Director Francis Lawrence does his best with the limited material but it never reaches the heights of the similar Hunger Games which he also directed.

The Long Walk has its moments of tension but, with an ending that will come