The Life of Chuck: A Stephen King Story Skillfully Turned into a Literal Life Lesson

By Karen Gordon

Rating: A-minus

There is a little of the supernatural in The Life of Chuck. That's not surprising considering that it’s based on a short story by Stephen King. 

But that element is not the centerpiece of the film.  In this story there is a more elusive, mystical question. The film contemplates not so much the meaning of life, but the meaning of a life. 

The film adapation is by another artist also well known for his films and TV series set in the world of the supernatural, writer/director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep), and it manages a tightrope feat. It is engaging, warm, touching, and sincere without being cloying or manipulative.

Tom Hiddleston as the mysterious Chuck

Flanagan stays faithful to King’s story in both structure and tone.

The Life of Chuck is presented  in three acts, starting with the third and working back to act one.  It's an interesting technique that gives the film extra layers of meaning. The one thing he does differently is bring in a narrator, Nick Offerman, who gives the film some context. 

Act three is anchored by teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Like the rest of the people in his town, he’s dealing with a series of unexplained phenomena and natural disasters. The internet is going down. TV broadcasting is intermittent.  Parts of the city are collapsing into sink holes.  Some people have already given up on going to work. 

The one thing everyone has noticed is that everywhere you look there are billboards, or TV and radio ads that say, “39 Great Years!  Thanks Chuck!”  The billboards have a picture of accountant Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) sitting at a desk.  No one seems to know who he is, but as people note, if this is a retirement after 39 years, Chuck looks damn good for his age. 

With so much out of commission, life slows down for everyone, with people abandoning their jobs.  Marty has a warm relationship with his s ex wife, Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan), who is a nurse at the local hospital, trying to hold down the fort while too many of their colleagues go AWOL. 

Could this be an apocalypse?  As things grind down to what seems like “the end,” Marty decides to go see her, which means a three mile walk across town. He gets there just as the street lights go off, and they sit in her backyard, talking quietly, staring into the night sky as some of the stars begin to blink off.

In act two, A young musician who goes by the name The Pocket Queen (Taylor Franck), sets up her full drum kit in an  open urban square and starts playing.  Along comes Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Hiddleston) strolling along at a good clip, on his way home. The drumming stops him. He puts down his briefcase and, moved by the music, starts to dance, letting the beat carry him. He draws a crowd and that includes a young woman, Janice, Halliday (Annalise Basso) who has been having a very bad day.  Chuck pulls her into the dance and, to the delight of the growing crowds, the two abandon themselves to the dance.  

In the third (a.k.a. first) act, we meet meet young Chuck Krantz, (Benjamin Pajak) who is being raised by his grandparents, they being Albie (Mark Hamill) and Sarah (Mia Sara). At this young age, Chuck has had a lot of tragedy and loss in his life, but his grandparents love and support him.  His grandmother loves to dance and soon the two of them are dancing through the house. He starts to dance at school in such a way that his teacher notices and starts a dance club.  

The Krantz’s live in a big old house, a comforting house, except for the very top floor, where a turrett shaped room is off limits.  Something in that room has badly rattled Albie and to make sure that no one enters, he’s put a padlock on and keeps the key in his desk.  Of course Chuck is curious.  As are we. What could make Albie so frightened and so protective of his grandson? 

There is one more iteration of Chuck, an older boy, plays by Canadian Jacob Tremblay who takes us into Chuck’s late teens and, inevitably, the forbidden room. 

What’s in the room is ultimately much less interesting though, than the little touches, the little threads that connect all the stories. Flanagan doesn’t make things obvious. He’s not hammering us with the details, but they’re there. And without shouting, we instinctively start to pull the threads together.

There's a tenderness that starts to emerge as we get closer to the end of the film, a unity of reflection and reaction to the things in life we can control and the ones we can't. The characters and their thoughts, their feelings, their bonds feel true, in spite of the mysteries that this backwards structure creates. 

But as the movie comes to its conclusion, the little grace notes, the relationships, the conversations that people have had in their respective situations, all start to make sense. 

And the meaning of this story told in reverse, from different angles comes to a point that is graceful and profound. 

The Life of Chuck won the Audience award at 2024’s Toronto International Film Festival. 

That’s worth noting. TIFF audiences have a good track record at picking movies that go on to Oscar nominations and wins. 

The Life of Chuck. Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, from a story by Stephen King. Stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Hamill, Karen Gillan. In theatres, June 13.