The Life of Chuck is a remarkable motion picture event from Mike Flanagan - the man that perfectly depicts the mind of Stephen King on film. The Life of Chuck is unlike what typically comes to mind when Stephen King is brought to conversation… more in line with The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption or The Running Man than his typical horror forward catalog. 

 

As the title reveals, the film revolves around the life of the titular Chuck - told from several unexpected angles. The first act is a haunting apocalyptic tale that once the whole picture comes together, its meaningful presence becomes all the deeper. The film makes you reconsider what exactly is a life - what are the moments that make the biggest impact in your subconscious and is there something larger within each of us — not quite a soul, but a universe of miscellaneous pieces from our lifetime. 

 

The beginning act supplies the moments of confusion with absolutely gorgeous bits of scenery - with an extensive skyline with mysterious theories behind every hint of the end times closing in. Here we are given a phenomenal monologue and conversation between Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew Lillard - a lasting performance in a minimal moment of devastation. A story of a broken couple coming together for the final emotional moments of life with Ejiofor and Karen Gillan together on screen. A beautiful segment that turns into something drastically different when the second act kicks in…

 

While Tom Hiddleston’s image is spread all throughout the initial act as the older Chuck - the second act is where we truly get our intro and it’s a wonderful case of a story being told in reverse with brilliance. The Life of Chuck rightfully puzzles until the entire picture comes together in the film’s closing imagery. This act emerges as a rather large musical break, where we experience a serious man on the street expressing himself through the power of song and dance. 

 

The third act is where we truly get to know Chuck as a person, when he was a little kid wanting to dance. Growing from Benjamin Pajak to Jacob Tremblay to eventually Tom Hiddleston, moved to dance on a street corner. All three actors give their own particular enthusiasm to the role and a different perspective which makes the character the most enticing to watch grow to their peak of being. 

 

His grandparents Albie and Sarah, played by Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Mia Sara (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) are all wonderful examples of human life - full of love, energy but most of all grief for those they’ve lost. Triggering what we all must go through throughout our one journey through this world, Flanagan initiates a bit of song and dance to lighten the mood and bring it all around with sci-fi flair. 

 

Each member of this extensive cast is just as important as the next - Lillard, Gillan, Pajak, Elijifor, Hamill or Hiddleston - all offering top shelf performances that will resonate and stay attached to the viewer for quite some time to come. Hamill’s Albie in particular is progressively in an emotional spiral of despair, fueled by his alcoholism and paranoia of the locked room upstairs. Similarly the performances all around are emotionally guided and it will be difficult for at least one of them not to etch a tear from someone’s socket. 

 

A science fiction apocalyptic thriller, a musical dance number and a coming-of-age drama with a hint of horror, The Life of Chuck is a memorable mismatch of genres held together by one thing… a beating heart. If this showcases anything, it’s that even the smallest bit of your life captured in a glance can be just as meaningful as the most notable. Flanagan continues to amaze in his translation of King to the big screen while capturing something pure and beautiful in his latest effort.