Mike Flanagan is back with another Stephen King adaptation, but The Life of Chuck is far removed from the filmmaker’s familiar horror confines. Instead, it is something daring, soulful, and deeply humanistic.
★★★★☆
With TV hits like The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and spooky films such as Hush (2016) and Doctor Sleep (2019), Mike Flanagan has carved out a name for himself as a master of horror. Not just this, he has also shown a penchant for successfully adapting a number of Stephen King novels, from the aforementioned Doctor Sleep to Gerald’s Game (2017), with two series based on Carrie and The Dark Tower in the works with Amazon Studios. On the surface, then, The Life of Chuck seems like nothing new, but whilst it is based on a King story (from his 2020 novella), Flanagan’s latest is a miraculous departure from his usual thrills and chills.
That is also because The Life of Chuck is not a horror story. King is best-known as a writer dealing in the supernatural and the grotesque, but he has many standout stories that don’t dwell in the darkness. This is the writer who has The Green Mile, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and The Body (adapted into the film Stand By Me) to his name. Whilst The Life of Chuck can be frightening thanks to its existential dealings with life and mortality, it is overall a wholly unique film; a fantasy drama grounded in realism, split across three acts, and told in reverse chronology.
The first part (well, the third part), Act Three, is titled “Thanks, Chuck”, and is perhaps The Life of Chuck’s strongest one. The world is ending, and Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) can’t stop noticing Charles “Chuck” Krantz’s face popping up everywhere, adorned with thank you messages. It’s a fascinating, otherworldly opener, and full of dramatic intrigue. Acts Two and One (“Buskers Forever” and “I Contain Multitudes”) are more obviously run-of-the-mill in terms of setup, and whilst not as strong as the opening section, they still soar with affection and enthusiasm for the source material and its story.
Tom Hiddleston is adult-Chuck, with Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak, and Cody Flanagan playing younger versions of the titular character. We follow Chuck’s upbringing: his parents dying; his young life living with his paternal grandparents Albie (Mark Hamill) and Sarah (Mia Sara). One particular scene stands out, which sees Hiddleston’s Chuck dancing in the street to a drumming busker (Taylor Gordon). It’s a standout not just of The Life of Chuck, but of 2025 cinema as a whole, a freeing experience that gleefully celebrates being yourself and dancing with abandon. Hiddleston is on top-form throughout, but he particularly shines in this dynamic scene.
The Life of Chuck isn’t perfect. It can be sickly sweet at times, although those moments are rare, and for the most part, Flanagan movingly captures these grand musings on death, life, and the universe, without ever making it feel overwhelming. Some didacticism aside, these messages and themes are elegantly presented into one beautiful package. The Life of Chuck might diverge from the classic horror worlds that we associate with King and Flanagan, but it still sparkles with their magic touch, a Spielberg-esque wonder that has become rarer in films over the years. This is a King story through and through: the style, the nostalgia, the weirdness, the Americanisms, right down to Nick Offerman’s soothing voiceover. Nobody is bringing King, horror or not, to screens quite like Flanagan.
The Verdict:
The Life of Chuck is a wonderful Stephen King adaptation by Mike Flanagan that shakes off some saccharine moments to form one of the most moving, spiritually uplifting films of the year. It is shiveringly pessimistic at times, but its optimism eventually shines through, without diminishing any of its dramatic realism.
The Life of Chuck is in UK cinemas from 22nd August.
Words by William Stottor
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.