Film Review: ‘The Life of Chuck’ is an Absolute Miracle of a Movie and a Masterpiece From Mike Flanagan

A movie like The Life of Chuck doesn’t come along very often. Films can do all sorts of things, but it’s the rare work that can be a balm for your soul. Mike Flanagan, working off of the Stephen King source material, has achieved this feat. In the tradition of Frank Darabont, Flanagan has taken King’s non-horror output and made an instant classic. A double feature between this and The Shawshank Redemption would not be out of place. Not only is this film one of the best I’ve seen in some time, easily the best of 2025 so far, it’s potentially an all-timer. The flick just packs that much of a wallop.

The Life of Chuck absolutely bowled me over. Taking an incredibly simple message and premise, one we all too often forget, and expanding it out to cosmic and universal proportions is stunning to witness. Flanagan engages just about every emotion one can have while engaging with cinema. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this is one of the most fulfilling films to come along in a great long while. It’s the type of movie that may actually save lives, that’s how important it could become to viewers that let it in.

Adapting King’s novella of the same name, we’re privy to three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz, or Chuck as we’ll come to know him. Starting with the final chapter and going backwards, we grow to understand why this seemingly unremarkable person is anything but. In the first chapter, which is actually the last, we’re introduced to teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor), as well as his ex-wife, nurse Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan). They’re both struggling to keep up their normal lives as the world is slowly crumbling around them. As they navigate that, a billboard of an accountant, as well as commercials on television, appear with the same message: “39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck!”

In the second chapter, Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) is on a work trip when he passes a young busker (The Pocket Queen) playing drums. For no reason that we can initially tell, Chuck starts dancing, joined by a woman going through a breakup. It’s here that we learn, in narration by Nick Offerman, more about our hero, which I won’t dare reveal.

The final chapter goes back to the beginning, where a young Chuck (Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay at different points) is cared for by his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara) after his parents have died in an accident. It’s here that he’ll learn many of the lessons that will carry him through the rest of his life, as well as impact the entire world, be it from his grandparents, or from a kind teacher in Miss Richards (Kate Siegel). It all comes together in a beautiful way, one that may well leave you stunned in the best way possible.

The cast is impeccable, executing Flanagan and King’s vision flawlessly. Playing Chuck, the trio of Tom Hiddleston, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay share similar amounts of screen time, yet make each stage of his life incredibly distinctive. Pajak and Tremblay are asked to do a lot, while Hiddleston has to make his mark with less opportunities than you’d expect. At the same time, he nails it. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan have a very difficult task in hooking you during the most mysterious element of the story, yet they’re more than up to the challenge. You feel like you already know them, even as we’re just meeting them. Ejiofor’s everyman feel and Gillan’s openness suggest so much we missed out on seeing, in very moving ways. They’re the secret MVP’s of the film. Mark Hamill and Mia Sara are instantly iconic cinematic grandparents. They have some of the most heartwarming and heart-wrenching moments in the movie. Then, there’s Kate Siegel, who takes a one scene monologue that will stay with you. Siegel’s sequence is destined to linger in your heart. The smaller parts like those played by The Pocket Queen or Nick Offerman’s narration, they’re still excellent, meshing perfectly with the larger players. Supporting members of the cast here include David Dastmalchian, Carla Gugino, Harvey Guillén, Sandra Hess, Q’orianka Kilcher, Heather Langenkamp, Lauren LaVera, Matthew Lillard, Hamish Linklater, Carl Lumbly, and more. It’s truly an ensemble where everyone comes up big.

Writer/director Mike Flanagan does the best work of his career here. Whenever a filmmaker goes in a new direction, I’m interested, so this already had my curiosity, even before it took the TIFF People’s Choice Award. He’s a veteran of many King works, though this is his first non-horror foray. This takes nothing away from those films, but this is his masterpiece. So much of the joy here is the surprise with which everything comes together, but Flanagan can make you cry in one instant, while making you howl with laughter the next. A quick moment involving All That Jazz is the hardest I’ve laughed this year. The score by The Newton Brothers perfectly blends with Flanagan’s filmmaking, really bringing out the emotions. The haunting nature of the work, the uplifting nature, and the mastery on display, it all puts Flanagan on a whole new level as an artist.

In a perfect world, The Life of Chuck would be a major Oscar player. I’d love to see it contend for nominations in Best Picture, Best Director (for Flanagan), Best Supporting Actor (for Hamill), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Flanagan as well). NEON certainly knows how to navigate awards season these days. It’s fair too early to tell if the flick will have the ability to actually be in serious play for Academy Award citations, but it’s going to have a major champion in yours truly.

The Life of Chuck is a masterpiece, plain and simple. I started the conversation here with a piece on how it’s cinematic magic. Now, this review should hopefully hammer home just how special it is. I will have so much more to say about this film throughout the year, as well as in the future, but it’s the type of work I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about. How many movies can make that claim? This one is just special. Thanks, Chuck.

SCORE: ★★★★