I was looking forward to The Life of Chuck. I knew nothing about it, just that it was from Mike Flanagan, and based on a Stephen King short story.
This is the third King story that Flanagan has made into a movie; Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep being the other two.
My history with Flanagan is that his work is impressive. Both movies mentioned above are very good. Doctor Sleep was far from perfect, but a solid sequel to The Shining, one of my all-time favourite movies.
I was a little worried when he was going to remake The Haunting into a TV series. However, his take on The Haunting of Hill House was excellent and had some genuinely scary moments.
Between The Haunting of Hill House and The Life of Chuck, he’s been making series for Netflix. The Haunting of Bly Manor was pretty good, as was Midnight Mass.
However, I couldn’t finish The Midnight Club. He got back on track with The Fall of the House of Usher.
On to The Life of Chuck. The movie stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, David Dastmalchian, Matthew Lillard, Violet McGraw, Nick Offerman, Heather Langenkamp, and, surprise surprise, Katie Siegel.
The Story
Reviewing The Life of Chuck is going to be tough, mainly because I don’t want to spoil the story. As I said, I knew nothing about this movie going in, and I love that feeling. Nothing has been spoiled, you don’t know of any twists, you just go in fresh.
A life-affirming, genre-bending story about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.
The movie opens on Act 3: Thank you, Chuck. Marty Anderson (Ejiofor) is a teacher, and there is a disruption in class.
In the news, it says that part of California has fallen into the sea. This seems to be the beginning of the end of the world.
The internet goes down, including Pornhub, so it is the end of the world! We then see reports from around the world of floods, earthquakes, fires, and even a volcano in Germany.
Just a note, but the shot of the flood in Yorkshire was not Yorkshire, pay attention, people.
People really start to freak out and come to terms with the fact that the Earth, and all life on it, is not going to make it.
However, people also see billboards and TV adverts saying ‘Thank you, Chuck, for your 39 years’. 39 years of what? No one knows.
In Reverse
Act 2 of The Life of Chuck is about Chuck himself. He doesn’t make an appearance until about 35 minutes in. The end of the movie is Act 1, when Chuck is growing up. That’s all I’m going to say about the movie.
I haven’t really spoiled anything, because the story is very profound and one of those movies that will promote discussion after you’ve seen it. My take on it was slightly different to Mrs Boba Phil’s, and we talked about it for a good 20 minutes.
As I said, if you go into this fresh and unspoiled, you’re in for a treat. I had no idea where the story was going with Chuck, but I’m really glad I watched it.
The Cast
The Life of Chuck has a really good cast, and boy, do they all do well. The acting and the monologues are superb. The people you meet on the journey are interesting, deep, and they have a script that is delicious in places.
Carl Lumbly, whom I’ve always liked, gives a performance of a man knowing the end is coming. He’s a side character, but he ends up explaining a lot about the plot, which you only find out later.
Matthew Lillard is the same. I couldn’t make him out at first, but he comes closer to the camera and I smiled. I still see him as Stuart from Scream, although the guy has had an amazing career. In The Life of Chuck, he’s acting is spot on, with another monologue that almost had me in tears.
The other standout performance is Mark Hamill. Over the years, I’ve lost some respect for him as a person, but in The Life of Chuck, he is excellent. He worked with Flanagan in The Fall of the House of Usher, where again, he was excellent. It was nice to see him ‘act’ and again, give really great monologues.
I read that Mia Sara came out of retirement for this movie. She was impressed with Midnight Mass and wanted to work with Flanagan. Good to see her again. Also, I’m totally getting Offerman to narrate my life story.
Flanagan
What I like about The Life of Chuck is that the direction isn’t overly complex. Don’t get me wrong, the direction is fantastic. Full of long and complex shots with actors doing their thing.
I’m bored with the overly complex shots with cameras flying around people’s heads, up their noses and out of their ears. OK, The Life of Chuck isn’t an action movie, but it doesn’t need green screen and cameras flying around.
The movie is about the characters, about the life of a man called Chuck, the other characters that he meets and interacts with. The good thing is, all of the characters are fleshed out and given an incredible script.
Flanagan is a very good director, but his writing is his strength. As I said, I was worried about his series version of The Haunting, which is another of my all-time favourites. However, credit where credit is due, The Haunting of Hill House took the original story and made it something really interesting and ‘original’.
You know what I mean here when I say original. It’s a reimagining, but if they are well done, they really work.
Overall
It’s 2025, and so far this year has been a crappy year for movies. I’ve been to the cinema twice; Mission Impossible, which was disappointing, and F1, which was great. The rest of 2025 has been a letdown, although I’m yet to see Superman and Fantastic Four.
However, I think The Life of Chuck might make it into my Top 5 for the year. I watched it last night and then spent the night mulling it over. As I said, it’s one of those movies that will promote discussion about what you think it was ultimately about.
I thought The Life of Chuck was going to be like The Life of Walter Mitty, and it is, but it isn’t.
It is like Walter Mitty, but with a very mild hint of a little horror and sci-fi. It’s a very mild hint; this is not a horror movie or a sci-fi movie, it’s just sprinkled with it.
The movie is beautifully made, with a deep and insightful script, and some really outstanding performances.
I was going to give The Life of Chuck 4.5 out of 5, but I know, with a re-watch, it will be a 5-star movie. Just to be clear, this is a ‘5-star in 2025’ movie; things like Jaws or The Shining are now 5-Star gold. This movie is 5-star in the Last Movie Outpost green.
You can find The Life of Chuck on VoD, and it is worth watching. I know I will definitely be watching again, probably a few times.
