“The Life of Chuck” Review
Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation strikes a balance between tragedy and comedy, exploring mortality and the small joys in life.
Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck is a sentimental look at grappling with mortality, whether it’s on an individual, personal level or on a larger universal scope. Flanagan has proven he can tug on the heartstrings with various projects including The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. He often mixes horror and melancholy, capitalizing on the everyday quiet emergencies of life as opposed to outright horror. There is a minor supernatural element in the film, but the overall story is a drama that is a celebration of life.
The film opens with the Third Chapter, which showcases Chiwetel Ejiofor as teacher Marty Anderson, a man living through what appears to be the end of the world. Initially, it seems like the film is going in the direction of Leave the World Behind (2023) but as the film unfolds, it turns out to be something much different. First Marty sees a billboard about Charles Krantz, then his girlfriend Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan) hears a commercial about Chuck on the radio. As the world extinguishes before their eyes, images of Charles Krantz remain. Marty and Felicia don’t know what the significance of Chuck is, but they face the future in fear. Marty is a key character but some of his monologues are a little long.
The Second Chapter introduces us to adult Charles, an accountant. He’s taking a break from a conference he’s at and passes a street drummer (Taylor Gordon) who helps him find his inner groove. He starts dancing and plucks recently jilted Janice Halliday (Annalise Bosso) from the crowd, and they put on a show, perfectly complimenting each other. This chapter could actually be a little longer. We don’t get to see much of Chuck as an adult. Janice and Chuck part ways, and the First Chapter begins.
We meet Charles, aka Chuck, at three stages in his life—child, young man, and adult. After his parents are in a car crash, he lives with his grandparents, Albie (Mark Hamill) and Sarah (Mia Sara) and it’s through them that he learns life lessons, including how to enjoy the everyday simplistic moments in life.
The casting for the film is spot-on. Benjamin Pajak plays Chuck as a child and he’s absolutely adorable. Joseph Tremblay is Chuck as a young adult, and he has a calm intensity to him. Tom Hiddleston is Chuck as an adult and brings the story full circle. As Chuck grows up, we realize how he’s connected to Marty and humanity as a whole.
The importance of music and dance in Chuck’s life can’t be ignored. It’s through dance that Chuck comes of age. It’s music that keeps him in tune with himself and the universe. Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” is a signature song in Chuck’s life and is a nod to the prescient storyline of Back to the Future (1985). Also, Chuck Berry is another Chuck and Marty McFly is the lead character in Back to the Future. The Newton Brothers, who have frequently worked with Flanagan, provide the understated and moving score.
The film has quite a few humorous moments that underlie the more serious ones. As in life, there’s a fine line between tragedy and comedy. There are some notable cameos in the film, including Flanagan and his producing partner Trevor Macy. Classic scream queen Heather Langenkamp is Vera and Matthew Lillard and David Dastmalchian also make appearances. Mark Hamill is fantastic as the gruff but loving Albie and Mia Sara shines as vibrant Sarah. Nick Offerman is the narrator and his soothing voice weaves us through Chuck’s universe.
This is not Flanagan’s first time adapting Stephen King’s material. He’s also done Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep and is currently working on adapting TV series based on Carrie and The Dark Tower. The Life of Chuck is based on a 2020 short story of the same name by King and won the People’s Choice Award for Best Film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024. Most people who aren’t familiar with all of King’s work think he only does horror or stories about monsters. However, he also writes about the scariness of just living life, whether it’s through the lens of growing up or focuses on the trials of being an adult (Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption). While The Life of Chuck’s ending isn’t a total surprise, it is still very poignant. At an hour and fifty-one minutes, like life, the film is short but sweet.
The Life of Chuck is a Neon release that will be in theaters June 6, 2025.
Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
