In an alternate version of America ruled by a totalitarian regime, fifty teenage boys are chosen annually for a popular televised event known as The Long Walk. With armed soldiers monitoring their every step, they must walk non-stop for hundreds of miles. Those who drop below a minimum speed or stop are summarily executed. The rules are simple, brutal, and deadly: the Walk only ends when a single survivor remains, who wins a vast cash prize and one wish.

A big-screen version of Stephen King’s chillingly prescient 1979 novel (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) has been in development for decades. But it seems fate was waiting for director Francis Lawrence, no stranger to cinematic dystopias, having helmed the past four Hunger Games films. Under his assured direction, this is a riveting and emotional thriller, buoyed by terrific performances from young actors Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) and David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus) as two of the boys forced into the life-or-death ordeal.