'The Life of Chuck' review: Mike Flanagan and Stephen King team up for career-best cinema

The Life of Chuck is a cleanable matrimony of Mike Flanagan and Stephen King's talents, but not successful nan measurement you mightiness expect. 

Both are surviving legends of horror, pinch nan erstwhile creating a bevy of perfectly haunting miniseries for Netflix, including The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of nan House of Usher, while nan second is simply a prolific, best-selling writer whose horrific activity has spawned specified iconic scary movies arsenic The Shining, It, and Carrie. This is Flanagan's 3rd King adaptation, having tackled the kinky and nightmarish Gerald's Game for Netflix successful 2017 and The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep. Despite their shared sensation for nan scary stuff, their latest collaboration has overmuch much successful communal pinch mainstream King adaptations for illustration Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption than immoderate of nan supra gems.

The star-studded formed includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tom Hiddleston, Matthew Lillard, and David Dastmalchian arsenic good arsenic erstwhile Flanagan collaborators for illustration Karen Gillan (Oculus), Mark Hamill (Fall of nan House of Usher), Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass), Samantha Sloyan (Fall of nan House of Usher), Jacob Tremblay (Doctor Sleep), and Kate Siegel (Hush). This dazzling ensemble tells a profound yet joyous communicative of life and death, but not to interest — there's a spot of spooky worldly successful present too. 

What's The Life of Chuck about? 

For those who haven't publication King's novella, this movie's communicative is simply a enigma for overmuch of its runtime. That's a thrill truthful uncommon I won't beryllium ruining nan nosy pinch spoilers. So, let's opportunity this: The Life of Chuck begins successful a world plagued by catastrophe. Earthquakes are sloshing disconnected chunks of California into nan Pacific. Rampant absenteeism has shattered nan reliability of society. And nan net is down, moreover PornHub. 

Incredibly, Flanagan's adapted screenplay paints a world that feels some terrifyingly acquainted to our own, yet besides speckled pinch humor. For instance, Dastmalchian, a characteristic character who is simply a gift to nan scary genre, pops up to present a heart-breaking speech that's mildly studded pinch a great, humane punchline. The witnesser to these waves of symptom and resilient pleasance is Marty Anderson (Ejiofor), a grade-school coach who is desperately trying to make consciousness of this caller (lack of) order, but is distracted by nan wide advertisement that is nan movie's cardinal mystery. 

Charles "Chuck" Krantz (Hiddleston) stares retired from advertisements and TV commercials, a bladed grin connected his face. Next to him is simply a chipper connection thanking this seeming pencil-pusher for 39 awesome years. It seems to beryllium a status ad. But why, arsenic nan stars themselves statesman to flicker retired of existence, does Chuck's look look successful suburban windows successful a unspeakable greenish glow? Flanagan won't reply this swiftly. Instead, he'll unfurl nan life of this mysterious advertisement man successful nan 2 pursuing acts. And successful this, he and King research condolences pinch a defiant joy. 

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The Life of Chuck is astir life successful nan look of death. 

In nan film's opening act, Ejiofor and a formed of characters, including Gillan arsenic his ex-wife, activity meaning and solace successful a world ravaged by loss. There's a grim but beautiful consciousness of organization successful this shared agony. The second acts look to nan moments earlier specified nonaccomplishment — nan time you had a fateful gathering pinch a stranger; a schoolhouse creation that changed your bosom forever; nan puerility curiosity whose effect wouldn't afloat deed 'til years later. 

It's a foolhardy endeavor to effort to seizure a full life successful 1 movie; look to truthful galore dull and stodgy biopics arsenic evidence. And yet Flanagan manages it by creating a throughline successful these moments of meaning. What were nan moments that made Chuck's 39 years great? A thread that leads, successful 1 direction, to nan extremity of nan world is followed backmost to a beguiling creation number, successful which Hiddleston wows pinch a buoyant showmanship. This follows backmost to a puerility calamity that connects to a infinitesimal of grandmotherly bonding, to an after-school activity, and nan benignant of epic defining infinitesimal of hard-won self-assurance that glows agleam moreover decades later. 

Where immoderate films struggle to gaffe done clip to motion to a complete communicative (We Live successful Time), The Life of Chuck is elegant successful its creation from now to past and measurement backmost when. The communicative is rife pinch tragedy, including earthy disasters, death, and moreover societal anxiety. But it's balanced by nan undeniable beauty of unexpected quality connections done creation and conversation. It's a communicative that weaves astir successful specified an unconventional measurement that Flanagan demands nan audience's spot and patience. But nan payoff is wondrous, delivering nan benignant of soul-emboldening affectional catharsis of King's astir heart-felt films, for illustration Stand By Me, The Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemption. Undoubtedly, The Life of Chuck is not conscionable 1 of Flanagan's champion films yet, but also 1 of nan champion adaptations of King's activity arsenic well. 

The formed of The Life of Chuck is beyond radiant. 

Ejiofor shoulders nan first enactment pinch eyes live pinch curiosity, hope, and fear. Gillan brings a self-assured grit that grounds this dying world. With a gruff sound and a haunted tone, Hamill plays a grandfather instantly acquainted arsenic he is some loving and lost. Dastmalchian, Lillard, and Siegel present little but stirring monologues that deed to nan core. Sloyan, who was chilly successful Usher, is divinely lukewarm present arsenic a grade-school gym teacher. Hiddleston shines arsenic a communal man pinch an bonzer life, while Cody Flanagan and Jacob Tremblay do a superb occupation of playing Chuck's younger selves, mimicking Hiddleston's physicality while carving retired their ain magical moments. 

It's incredible. This is simply a movie that contains truthful overmuch that it conscionable shouldn't work. It's easy to ideate an loop that fell excessively difficult into nan darkness, aliases depended excessively intensely connected treacly sentimentality, aliases relied connected its dashing prima powerfulness to gloss complete immoderate underwritten turns. But The Life of Chuck is masterfully told. Like King's astir moving adaptations, it doesn't play by modular rules of building aliases assemblage expectations. It demands we travel nan winding roadworthy done playful dialogue, achy lows, and rollicking highs, to an chartless beyond. It's astonishing and upsetting, funny and profound. I laughed hard, cried 'til my eyes ached, and erstwhile gasped truthful large that I heard it echo crossed a theatre struck silent by a infinitesimal some shocking and tender. 

As I constitute this, The Life of Chuck has nary distributor, meaning we don't cognize if aliases erstwhile it mightiness travel to a theatre adjacent you. But pursuing a rousing world premiere astatine nan Toronto International Film Festival, which I attended, this awesome adjustment won nan People's Choice Award. While it seems definite it will beryllium bought, here's hoping that acquisition will lead to a theatrical release. There are immoderate movies that really merit to beryllium seen successful a large theater, surrounded by group — a organization – tied to each different successful nan heady acquisition of cinematic art, and The Life of Chuck is 1 of them. It is glorious. 

The Life of Chuck was reviewed retired of nan world premiere astatine nan 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

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