THE WALK

The Walk takes a morally serious approach to racism and Christian responsibility. Its central question is whether Bill, a Catholic Boston cop, will do his duty and protect black students when many fellow officers and local power brokers choose to abandon them. The film emphasizes doing right, loving your neighbor, and standing up against racism.

That good purpose comes with real costs. The story moves slowly and unevenly, and its political framing makes white people the problem while presenting black people primarily as victims. The film also contains strong violence, racial violence, at least 76 “f” words according to the review, and more than two dozen other obscenities and profanities.

If you are an adult or an older teenager prepared for that content and interested in its moral questions, The Walk has enough value to merit the trip. For a family movie night, choose something else.

In 1974 Boston, a white Irish cop named Bill Coughlin is ordered to protect black students being bused into a white neighborhood school after a judge mandates desegregation.

Bill’s fellow officers, his daughter Kate, the local Irish mob, and angry white protesters all place pressure on him. As racism intensifies around his family and his job, Bill must decide whether to protect his own safety or stand up for the children in his care.

Three stars means The Walk is a solid but flawed drama. The filmmaker and actors do a good job, and the personal story gives the film a serious emotional and moral center.

The movie’s strongest material concerns Bill’s struggle to do the right thing, serve others, and resist the racist “group think” around him. But the story is too slow and unevenly paced. Its points are often drawn out, and the political correctness weakens the drama by making white people the problem and black people just victims.

The film takes a broadly Christian, biblical position against racism. It presents doing the right thing, loving your neighbor, standing against racism, equality, and sacrificing to protect and help other people as moral obligations. Faith, including Roman Catholic faith, receives positive references.

The film focuses on personal drama rather than carefully weighing the political arguments for and against forced school busing. Its treatment of the issue is strongly shaped by political correctness, presenting white people as racial oppressors and black people as victims of systemic racism. The review also notes a line suggesting that people are basically good and another claiming that American society in 1974 remained systematically racist against black criminals compared with white criminals, without a caveat that conditions were improving.

The historical background in the review argues that forced busing had better alternatives, including an open-enrollment plan proposed by Boston’s school superintendent. It also says the program contributed to white flight, greater segregation in city schools, and failed to improve black students’ education levels or stop the destruction of the black family by the social welfare state.

The film’s strongest longing is for people to accept responsibility for one another rather than protect themselves through fear or prejudice. Scripture gives that duty a clear name: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8).

The Walk is a well-acted, morally serious drama about resisting racism and protecting others. Its slow pace, political framing, strong violence, and extensive profanity make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults and mature older teenagers, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, see.