The Life of Chuck Isn’t Horror–But It May Be King’s Most Profound Story Yet

If you’re not a hardcore movie fan, you might not have heard of The Life of Chuck. This isn’t a big-budget blockbuster with a massive marketing machine behind it, and it wasn’t produced by one of the major Hollywood studios. But if you’re a horror aficionado like me, this just might’ve been one of your most anticipated films of the year. It’s based on a short story by Stephen King, and it was made by one of the best filmmakers working in the genre today, Mike Flanagan. Those names form a pretty impressive one-two punch, so from the minute I heard this movie was in the works, I knew I had to check it out. I even thought it had the potential to be an instant classic, and now that I’ve finally seen it, I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed.

The Life of Chuck was written and directed by Mike Flanagan, and it stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, and Mark Hamill. Unlike most of King’s and Flanagan’s works, this film isn’t actually horror. It’s a drama with a touch of fantasy, and it follows the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

Like most ordinary lives, Chuck’s doesn’t have a unified plot that runs throughout his entire existence, so The Life of Chuck doesn’t tell a single, unified story. Rather, it’s just an examination of the guy’s life, and it’s broken up into three distinct chapters–his childhood, his adulthood, and his death (which also brings about the end of the world)–shown  in reverse order.

As you might be able to tell from that plot synopsis, The Life of Chuck is a very slow burn. In fact, for the whole first act, the movie feels like it just meanders along without much narrative purpose. At best, the story at this point seems like a meditation on humanity’s insignificance in the face of the unfathomable vastness of the universe, and I found that pretty off-putting.

Sure, on a purely material level, we are almost imperceptibly small compared to the totality of the created world, but as Catholics, we know our dignity doesn’t depend on our size. Rather, it comes from being made in God’s image, and that’s worth more than an infinity of universes.

But when The Life of Chuck moves on to its second act–Chuck’s adulthood–the primary theme appears to shift from the awe-inspiring immensity of the universe to the things that make life worth living. It contains a dance number that’s just dripping with joy and zest for life, and it uses that scene to make the important point that our existence isn’t simply about utility and practicality. Rather, just like Dead Poets Society taught us all those years ago, life is about recognizing the beauty of creation and delighting in it (and, we Catholics would add, delighting in the creator as well).

When I realized what this part of the story was saying, it started to bring me around, but I wasn’t entirely convinced yet. I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the opening act, so I couldn’t entirely get on board with the film. It took one more chapter to completely win me over, but when it finally happened, The Life of Chuck became one of my favorite movies of the year so far.

I can’t go into any detail without spoiling some of the film’s surprises, but I can say that the final act is a striking celebration of human dignity. It even recontextualizes what I thought was a philosophically immature opening chapter, so by the time the credits began to roll, I realized I had completely misinterpreted that first part of the movie.

It’s not about our smallness compared to the universe’s wideness. Rather, the point is that we’re just as big and wondrous on the inside as the entirety of creation is on the outside, and that’s why the world ends when Chuck dies. When he passes away, we lose something just as valuable and just as awe-inspiring as the entire cosmos, and the same will be true of each and every one of us.

I’m not sure I can imagine a more striking way to express the vastness of our dignity or the infinite value of our lives, and to the surprise of no one, writer/director Mike Flanagan executes this message just about flawlessly. The acting and cinematography here are first-class from beginning to end, and the score perfectly complements all the emotional beats. In a word, The Life of Chuck is top-notch cinema all around, so if you’re looking for a film that will lift you up and inspire you like few others can, I highly recommend that you check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.