My quick rating - 7.5/10. Mike Flanagan has carved out a space for himself as the guy who can adapt Stephen King without mangling it, and The Life of Chuck is further proof of that. Based on King’s short story from If It Bleeds, the film is equal parts surreal, heartfelt, and quietly devastating. It’s one of those movies that sneaks up on you—an extraordinary story about an ordinary man, Charles “Chuck” Krantz, who experiences the beauty, heartbreak, and randomness of existence.
The film takes a deliberately unconventional approach, telling Chuck’s story out of order, beginning with Act 3: Thanks Chuck. Here, the world seems to be unraveling, though no one can quite explain why. We meet various characters, all just as baffled by the mysterious Chuck Krantz and his 39-year anniversary as the audience is. Chiwetel Ejiofor shines as Marty Anderson, grounding the confusion with gravitas. Flanagan uses this section to steep us in unease—questions without answers, quiet panic, and the suggestion that something much larger than us is at work.
Nick Offerman provides narration throughout, a wise and steadying voice that manages to guide us through the odd structure without overexplaining. His tone fits perfectly, offering a thread of continuity as we move backward in time to Act 2: Buskers Forever. This section has its own strange energy, anchored by Tom Hiddleston, who throws himself into a street performance with such abandon you can’t help but smile. In one of the film’s more charmingly absurd moments, a passerby just so happens to know the dance routine he’s busting out—because what’s a heartfelt story without a little bit of movie magic?
Finally, we arrive at Act 1: I Contain Multitudes. After all the heaviness and surrealism, this chapter delivers a heartfelt gut punch in the form of young Chuck (Benjamin Pajak) and his grandmother, played with warmth by Trinity Jo-Li Bliss. Their dance scene together is pure joy, the kind of moment that feels small yet contains an entire world of meaning. Honestly, after Chuck pulled out those moves at school, he’d have been the most popular kid in class. The sequence captures the innocence and wonder of youth in a way that sticks with you.
The ensemble is uniformly strong—adults and kids alike give it their all. Mark Hamill, in a role that could easily be overlooked, delivers a superb turn as Chuck’s grandfather. His presence adds a quiet weight to the film, reminding us that life’s meaning is often passed down through fleeting, seemingly insignificant moments.
What makes The Life of Chuck work is how it embraces life’s randomness. It acknowledges that what shapes us often feels arbitrary: a glance, a laugh, a loss, a song. Yet it’s in these moments—good, bad, and mundane—that the essence of who we are emerges. Flanagan, once again, shows he’s not just a horror director but one of contemporary cinema’s great horror directors.
It’s a beautiful, tender film about the value of life itself. A shame it didn’t get a wider release, because this is one worth being seen and felt.
https://jackmeat.com/the-life-of-chuck-2025/
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