The Life of Chuck sees Mike Flanagan take a step outside the box of horror films. The writer and director already has a massive winning streak, having created fantastic works such as The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, Gerald’s Game, and Doctor Sleep. Now, the filmmaker takes on a much more sentimental story from Stephen King—and it’s an astonishing piece of work.
Flanagan‘s adaptation is akin to Frank Darabont‘s transition from writing A Nightmare on Elm Street and remaking The Blob to directing two of the best Stephen King movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. For Flanagan, The Life of Chuck is a movie that could redefine his Hollywood legacy for the next decade, positioning him as one of the best working filmmakers of this generation.
What is The Life of Chuck about?
Written and directed for the screen by Mike Flanagan, and based on a short story by Stephen King, The Life of Chuck is organized into three distinct parts involving a banker named Charles “Chuck” Krantz, all based around the ideas of existence, mortality, and the value of one person. One of the sections is more poetic, showcasing a mind-shattering metaphor about life and death. It’s one of the most beautiful segments one might see in a 2025 film.
The other sections cover various stages of Chuck’s life, from happy memories, mundane moments, to painful times, and how they all added something more than expected. Throughout these glimpses into his life are people who bring value to Chuck’s life. For example, a teacher named Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor), his grandfather Albie Krantz (Mark Hamill), a grade school crush named Cat (Trinty Jo-Li Bliss), and many more.
Similar to The Green Mile, the story has a supernatural element that ties everything together. Specifically, a room in the house Chuck grew up in is said to be haunted, according to Chuck’s grandfather. But when asked further, all he can muster is a vague reference to the ghosts from Charles Dickens‘s A Christmas Carol. While this description might sound scattered and a little unfocused, it’s because the narrative is unconventionally structured, almost like Memento, but broken into three acts instead of several.
The value of human life as shown in Mike Flanagan’s film
It’s in this three-act story that the screenplay explores the breadth of human worth in different ways. The first act is the most complex and dissects the finality of all things. At some point, everyone will seek answers regarding how everything comes to an end. Questions such as: “What happens next?” or, “Why does anything have to have a conclusion?” The segment communicates these themes in a beautifully haunting and joyfully poetic way, possessing a quality that feels bigger than the film itself.
The other two acts offer glimpses of Chuck’s life at different stages of age. The acts are not broad-sweeping, but instead depict intimate moments, from the mundane to the memorable. However, in the scope of a person’s existence, the mundane reveals a larger connective tissue of significance. These beats feel like Flanagan taking the viewer on a cosmic daydream through someone’s memories as a way of showing the meaning of life.
After gathering all the evidence, the movie places a thematic cherry on top by giving one of the most heart-wrenching quotes. The quote revolves around the word “Multitudes” as a means of explaining someone’s worth and all the little details, experiences, and memories that define an existing soul. It brings everything together in a magnificent emotional bow.
The Life of Chuck cast carries the Flanagan monologues
The movie does exhibit a quality that Flanagan often displays in his writing. For such a terrific storyteller, Flanagan sometimes has a character dive into an extensive stream of thought in the middle of a conversation.
For example, in the series Midnight Mass, two characters engage in deep discussion about dying from both an atheist and a theological perspective. While the writing is undoubtedly excellent, one cannot help but feel distracted by the lack of realism in these moments. The prose is beautiful, but it resembles the narration style of a Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos episode. Additionally, The Life of Chuck contains several instances of existential monologizing.
Even so, the cast of The Life of Chuck carries the script beautifully. Ejiofor has a brief role in the film, but his presence feels as significant as Hiddleston‘s. He is responsible for conveying the film’s most poetic moments, and he does so effortlessly.
Tom Hiddleston delivers the best performance of his career as Chuck Krantz, which is impressive considering his resume. There is a moment in The Life of Chuck featuring Hiddleston that stands out as a complete showstopper for the entire movie. When the sequence began, the theater was captivated by the dazzling arrangement, with everyone grinning uncontrollably.
Mark Hamill is great as Chuck’s grandfather, but the comeback story belongs to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off actress Mia Sara, who portrays Chuck’s grandmother, Sarah Krantz. Her character has some of the most wholesome and understated moments in the film.
Benjamin Pajak makes a grand and charismatic entrance as the child version of Chuck Krantz. The young newcomer is a real-life musician and an outstanding dancer, which is evident in his performance in the film. In a movie featuring Tom Hiddleston, Pajak nearly steals the show from the Loki actor.
An adapted Stephen King story with “multitudes” of heart
Overall, watching The Life of Chuck is like experiencing a cinematic antidepressant, offering a profound examination of the beauty of existence. Moviegoers might find themselves moved to tears multiple times throughout the film. Its sincerity is remarkable, and we are amazingly fortunate to have talents like Mike Flanagan making movies.
Additionally, Tom Hiddleston continues to improve as a performer with every role. As critics, we get to see plenty of great films each year, but few of them are made with the affection shown in The Life of Chuck.
Are you excited to see The Life of Chuck in theaters soon? Let us know on social media @MyCosmicCircus or @TheCosmicCircus.com on Bluesky!
Also check out my video review of the movie with Vin on @TheCosmicCircus YouTube Channel!
