Beware, Stephen King fans who are here for the scares: The Life of Chuck might not be your thing.
But for those of us who keep coming back to the prolific author’s works for humanity through the lens of supernatural and horror elements, this newest movie adaptation might just be one of the — or, dare we say, the — best King page-to-screen efforts yet.
Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, The Life of Chuck is adapted from King’s novella of the same name, published as part of his 2020 short-story collection If It Bleeds.
The movie is led by Tom Hiddleston as the titular, mysterious Chuck Krantz, with a supporting cast that includes Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, Annalise Basso and Kate Siegel. A young Chuck is portrayed at different points in his childhood and adolescence by Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay.
It’s difficult to really get into the meat of who Chuck is — and exactly what his story is — without giving too much away. As Hamill, 73, tells PEOPLE, “I said to the producers, ‘I’m not going to be very good on the promotional trail, because how do you describe the indescribable?’ “
“All I can say is go see it. Trust me,’ ” adds the Star Wars legend.
Read on for five reasons why The Life of Chuck stands out, to this King fan, as the best screen adaptation of one of his works thus far. (Thanks, Chuck!)
- Two words: Mike Flanagan.
Flanagan, 47, is perhaps better known for his presence in the TV space, with hits on Netflix like The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021) and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023). But this isn’t his first feature-film King rodeo, having previously helmed Gerald’s Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019).
The Life of Chuck also features appearances from several actors who have been involved in past Flanagan projects, including Hamill, Hamish Linklater and Rahul Kohli — and, of course, Flanagan’s wife Siegel, 42. Their son Cody even makes his acting debut as young Chuck.
Mike Flanagan and Benjamin Pajak The Life of Chuck
Mike Flanagan and son Cody Flanagan on the set of The Life of Chuck (2025).
Courtesy of Neon
Flanagan’s penchant for telling stories that technically fit the horror genre while also conveying a larger message about the human condition made him a perfect fit for a story that had Gillan, 37, asking herself, “What would it feel like at the end of everything?”
“Sitting with it for a little while and trying to really understand how I might feel, so many different emotions came up,” the Guardians of the Galaxy actress adds. “There’s obviously terror and dread and fear of the unknown, but there’s also moments of levity and a calmness as you resign yourself to it — and maybe even a little humor in the face of something so terrifying.”
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It got Mia Sara to come back to acting.
Flanagan’s “incredible storytelling” was enough to bring Sara, 57, out of an acting hiatus after almost 15 years. As the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star tells PEOPLE, she’s “a crazy fan girl” of his work, and her whole family are also “huge fans” of the filmmaker.
“We met socially … and he just said, ‘Don’t you ever really want to work again?’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ ” recalls Sara, who plays Chuck’s grandmother, Sarah, in the film, opposite Hamill as his grandfather Albie. “[Flanagan] said, ‘What if I offered you something?’ I said, ‘Well, okay, if you offer me something, I’ll do it.’
It got Mia Sara to come back to acting.
Flanagan’s “incredible storytelling” was enough to bring Sara, 57, out of an acting hiatus after almost 15 years. As the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star tells PEOPLE, she’s “a crazy fan girl” of his work, and her whole family are also “huge fans” of the filmmaker.
“We met socially … and he just said, ‘Don’t you ever really want to work again?’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ ” recalls Sara, who plays Chuck’s grandmother, Sarah, in the film, opposite Hamill as his grandfather Albie. “[Flanagan] said, ‘What if I offered you something?’ I said, ‘Well, okay, if you offer me something, I’ll do it.’ “
Asked whether she’d do another acting project after The Life of Chuck, she insists of Flanagan, “If Mike needs me, I’ll be there.”It got Mia Sara to come back to acting.
Flanagan’s “incredible storytelling” was enough to bring Sara, 57, out of an acting hiatus after almost 15 years. As the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star tells PEOPLE, she’s “a crazy fan girl” of his work, and her whole family are also “huge fans” of the filmmaker.
“We met socially … and he just said, ‘Don’t you ever really want to work again?’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ ” recalls Sara, who plays Chuck’s grandmother, Sarah, in the film, opposite Hamill as his grandfather Albie. “[Flanagan] said, ‘What if I offered you something?’ I said, ‘Well, okay, if you offer me something, I’ll do it.’
Source:people.com
