Movie Review: "The Life of Chuck" (2025)

The Life of Chuck Movie Review

Written by Stuart D. Monroe

Released by Neon Pictures

Directed by Mike Flanagan

Written by Mike Flanagan and Stephen King

2025, 110 minutes, Rated R

Released on June 6th, 2025

Starring:

Tom Hiddleston as Charles “Chuck” Krantz

Jacob Tremblay as Charles “Chuck” Krantz

Benjamin Pajak as Charles “Chuck” Krantz

Chiwetlel Ejiofor as Marty Anderson

Karen Gillan as Felicia Gordon

Mia Sara as Sarah Krantz

Carl Lumbly as Sam Yarborough

Mark Hamill as Albie Krantz

David Dastmalchian as Josh

Matthew Lillard as Gus

Annalise Basso as Janice Halliday

Review:

I won’t lie to you- I’m an admitted King superfan, owning every book in some form (usually a first edition). Most Constant Readers will agree that anytime Mike Flanagan is involved with a King story it’s reason for excitement. Flanagan seems to get the Master of the Macabre on an instinctual level after knocking it clean out of the park with Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. And obviously his horror chops are on point with movies like Oculus & Hush and series like The Haunting of Hill House & The Haunting of Bly Manor.

However, this is Stephen King at his most emotionally attuned and heartfelt. There’s a supernatural element to the story, to be sure, but the source material is unapologetically inclined to make you feel a range of emotions in a reverse three-act play about the multitudes we all contain within us and our ability to create whole worlds in our heads and hearts. If I were being cliché, I’d say it’s a feel-good movie that soars with emotion, and that sounds great…but this is still Stephen King and there will be some fear and end of the world type stuff.

The third act comes first, and in it Chiwetlel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) and Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) are a divorced couple facing the slow end of the world by seeking solace in each other’s company as the internet fails for good, sinkholes appear in the streets, and California falls into the ocean whiel a slew of other disasters both large and small erupt. It’s close to home shit that reminds you of the sharpness of King’s teeth even when the story isn’t horror, per se. During all this, strange ads and TV commercials (and even a sky writer!) proclaim thanks to Charles “Chuck” Krantz for thirty-nine great years. No one seems to know who Chuck Krantz is, but he is everywhere with increasing frequency as the world winds down.

The second act introduces us to Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston; The Avengers) in the flesh instead of on every billboard and TV commercial. He’s a mild-mannered CPA, a numbers guy who doesn’t know he only has a few months left to live. He’s on a business trip and is about to have a moment with a stranger that will remind him of just how beautiful and spontaneous life can be while awakening something in his very soul.

The first act presents us with Chuck’s childhood and upbringing in the home of his grandparents, Albie Krantz (Mark Hamill; Star Wars).and Sarah Krantz (Mia Sara; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), following the death of his parents in an accident. It’s here in the early stages of his life that young Chuck learns about death and about what it means to wait for death.

Here’s the thing about The Life of Chuck: if the cast were a bunch of semi-talented nobodies it would still be a deeply felt tale that sings with truth and resonance (both good and bad) thanks to the unbelievable brains behind its creation from a writing standpoint. Giving a cast this talented material to work with that is this damn good makes for a film that had a packed house doing some real onion cutting, cheering, and laughing.

Ejiofor and Gillan have real chemistry and tenderness as Marty and Felicia. They get to do the darkest part of the story, and they shine a light you can’t close your eyes against. Their believability and fear are palpable. They’re joined by the criminally underrated Carl Lumbly (A Cure for Wellness) and the man himself, Matthew Lillard (Scream, SLC Punk) in a pair of scene-stealing moments. Lillard in particular delivers something of a mini-monologue that gives you chills. Tom Hiddleston turns in a nuanced and restrained performance that is the beating heart of the film. Jacob Tremblay and Benjamin Pajak both kill it with Mark Hamill and tell a story that could be anyone’s story, really.

And that’s where The Life of Chuck draws all the comparisons to legendary King stories of human triumph like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Stand by Me. Like those films, it has the darkness and the light in harmonious balance with all the right laughs and drama. What The Life of Chuck has that those other films don’t have is that Mike Flanagan flavor. His familiar faces are there (like Kate Siegel and Rahul Kohli), of course, but his reflective nature and patience are at their peak here. He wants you to truly feel not only Chuck’s story but the stories in his multitudes, that way you can reflect on your own multitudes and how you affect those around you. It’s the kind of film you can walk away from with a slightly different point of view (or at least something to chew on).

Equal parts scary, uplifting, humorous, and heartbreaking, The Life of Chuck is another feather in the cap of Mike Flanagan and yet another gem of Stephen King’s brought into the light to sparkle. It’ll have you in your feels for a while, as the kids say today.

Grade:

4.5 out of 5.0 starts