Judy Greer's Heartbreaking Performance in The Long Walk

The following contains spoilers for The Long Walk

The Long Walk has one of the best Judy Greer performances ever, and her short turn in the movie is the perfect tone-setter for the film. The Long Walk has been earning rave reviews, quickly becoming one of the best-reviewed Stephen King films of all time.

This is in large part thanks to a perfectly cast ensemble. One of the stand-outs, however, only appears in a few scenes and doesn’t even take part in the Long Walk. Judy Greer is tremendous in her short appearances in The Long Walk, delivering one of the most heartwrenching moments in a film full of them.

Judy Greer Makes The Most Out Of Her Two Big Scenes In The Long Walk

Judy Greer’s two major showcases in The Long Walk are among the most emotionally affecting parts of the movie and deserve some recognition. Greer appears in a minor supporting role in The Long Walk as Ray Garraty’s mother. She only really gets three appearances in the film, with one largely about Ray’s father.

Both of these scenes are emotional wrecking balls that land as hard as they do thanks to Greer’s performance. Judy Greer is clearly on edge as she drives her son to the drop-off for the Long Walk. It’s through small looks and clear unease that an unfamiliar audience would first pick up on the somber undertones of the story.

The real heartbreak comes when Ray’s mother tries (and fails) to let him walk away. Greer gives Ray’s mother a sincere moment of heartbreak where she cries and begs him to stay, only to put on as strong a face as she can when she realizes she can’t change his mind.

Greer’s later appearance in the film builds off this. After becoming exhausted and lasting to the last contestant, Ray sees his hope of seeing his mother turns into something far more painful as he briefly tearfully embraces her, apologizes for joining the competition, and is dragged away by Peter McVries.

It’s a painful moment for both characters; the walls of the first scene completely broken by the experience of the long walk. Cooper Hoffman does great work in the scenes (and the film as a whole), but there’s something so genuine and vulnerable about Greer’s performance that can’t be understated.

Give Judy Greer An Oscar Nomination, You Cowards

Judy Greer has had an impressive career across film and television. She’s appeared in several types of films over the years, ranging from rom-coms like 13 Going on 30, horror films like the Halloween legacy sequels, and TV shows like Archer. While she’s proven to be an impressive character actress, she’s most commonly seen delivering scene-stealing performances in comedies.

The Long Walk, while it does have moments of levity, is not a comedy. It’s a human story, a deeply bleak film that nevertheless never loses sight of the humanity at the core of the story. Greer’s short scenes are among the most raw performances, in a way that the rest of the film can’t quite match.

The dread, horror, and grief of the contestants in the Long Walk bring out different shades of all the different young men who can’t survive the experience. However, there’s a different kind of knowing parental dread that Greer brings to her short appearance, a shaking cry and shuddering effort to hold back tears that is a special kind of heartbreaking.

I love Judy Greer as an actor. Whenever I think of her, I think of absurd deliveries or chaotic turns. The Long Walk, in just a few scenes, is a great reminder of what she can do with dramatic material. In roughly five minutes of The Long Walk, Judy Greer delivers one of the best supporting performances of the year.