‘The Life of Chuck’ Review: Mike Flanagan’s Offbeat Stephen King-Based Tom Hiddleston Drama Mostly Hits the Mark | TIFF

“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” So goes Walt Whitman’s classic poem “Song of Myself.” It’s a profound statement about the complexity within each of us that is also a throughline in The Life of Chuck, the latest work from director and writer Mike Flanagan. The film is an adaptation of the Stephen King novella of the same name, following a mysterious apocalypse and one man’s life. Although Flanagan and King are known for their affinity for horror, here they take a pivot into one of their other strengths: telling deeply emotional stories. The result is a movie that celebrates the small moments that make life precious through the lens of one man’s life.

The world is ending. We begin the story of Chuck Krantz’s (Tom Hiddleston) life in Act III and will work backward to revisit some of the most impactful moments in his life. At first, though, we don’t see much of the man himself, aside from the advertisements he appears in: a billboard with the figure of a businessman at a desk, seated and smiling. The same message appears, inexplicably and repeatedly across TVs, radios, and even in the sky: “Charles Krantz 39 great years! Thanks, Chuck!” It’s a jarring sight, and seemingly the only message that cuts through the now-defunct communications methods. It persists amongst earthquakes, famines, and sinkholes opening up, and it baffles the cast of characters we meet in Act III. Folks like teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor), nurse Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan), and coroner Sam Yarborough (Carl Lumbly) don’t know what to make of it. All they know is their world is falling apart, and they only have each other to hold onto.

As the rest of the film unfolds, and we dive further back into Chuck’s past, we’ll realize that this cast of characters all have a connection to the titular mystery man in the billboards and that he’s at the center of the chaos around them. When we move on to Act II, we get a glimpse at Chuck’s life as an adult. One of the film’s main themes is centered around reminding us that life’s small moments are often the moments that make it precious. In this act, we are allowed a glimpse into a joyous memory of Chuck’s: a day when he decided to dance to the beat of a drum busker on a whim. Hiddleston does great work in this dance sequence, embodying a singular kind of joy while he loses himself in the beat. It’s a sequence that goes on for a bit, but never feels excessive or slow. It’s revealed that Chuck will think about this day at the end of his life while suffering from a fatal brain tumor. The narrator (Nick Offerman) explains, “Later he will forget his wife’s name. What he will remember-occasionally—is how he stopped, and dropped his briefcase, and began to move his hips to the beat of the drums, and he will think that is why God made the world. Just that.”

In Act I, we learn about Chuck’s childhood spent with his grandparents, dancing and growing up. If The Life of Chuck seems sentimental and maudlin, that’s because it is. But it hits a nerve nonetheless. Flanagan has always been a master of macabre stories with hearts of gold, but here he fully leans into sentimentality. It’s a tricky balancing act between being sincere and being corny, but Flanagan manages to find the real heart behind the sentiments. Elements like the narration don’t always work even if they provide a framework for us to understand the narrative, but other moments, like a flashback to Chuck’s childhood afternoons spent plowing through Blockbuster rentals with his grandmother, show the passing of time in a simple, yet moving way. 

The Life of Chuck is most effective when it leans into the complications of being human: balancing wonder and zeal for life with the universal fact that it will all end one day. In Act I, Chuck is confronted with his mortality as a teenager in the haunted cupola that sits atop his grandparents’ house. Despite a shocking revelation, he chooses a love of life regardless. “I am wonderful and I deserve to be wonderful and I contain multitudes,” he assures himself. It’s a simple but powerful statement that encapsulates the complicated nature of our humanity. When The Life of Chuck captures that rare spark, it really resonates with all the multitudes within us. 

Grade: B

This review is from the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival where The Life of Chuck had its world premiere. There is no U.S. distribution at this time.