Missed it in theaters? Stephen King’s brutal ‘The Long Walk’ is the newest No. 1 movie on HBO Max (and not ‘Sinners’)

This summer’s heatwave is showing no signs of quitting, and HBO max subscribers are weathering this weekend inside with a Stephen King dark thriller that’s just as brutal. “The Long Walk” is like a war movie without the war, a cross between “Stand by Me” and “The Road” where Mark Hamill gives the cruelest pep talk for 108 minutes and hope flickers but, importantly, is never truly extinguished.

This grueling endurance race of a movie hit HBO Max on July 10 and wasted no time climbing to the No. 1 spot of its most-watched movies list. But taking the crown in the HBO Max Top 10 doesn’t guarantee a movie’s worth watching. I’ll agree that “The Long Walk” has some incredible performances — David Jonsson, Cooper Hoffman, Ben Wang, Charlie Plummer and the rest of the cast put their heart and soul into their roles. But if you’re looking to watch the best movie on HBO Max to while away this fine Sunday evening, there’s a better option for you: “Sinners.” A phenomenal romantic horror movie I return to every Sunday because that’s the rule. That’s the goal now.