• Release year: 2024
• Director: Mike Flanagan.
• Producers: Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy.
• Screenplay by: Mike Flanagan.
• Cinematography by: Eben Bolter.
• Music by: The Newton Brothers.

Shotgun Commentary: a wholesome fantasy with gorgeous storytelling.

Review

The Life of Chuck is one of those films that attract on cast alone. Anyone who knows Mike Flanagan’s work, and Stephen King’s sci-fi pieces will absolutely be sold on this, like yours truly. If you don’t know any of the artists at all, including cast, let me be the first to welcome you back into the world. Fair warning, the rock under which you were living was very likely a lot better than the world you’re about to face. Still, watching this film might be a great way to dip your toe in the collective imaginary and the endless possibilities of life.

The end of days

The story is divided in three acts told in reverse, all parts of Chuck’s life. The beginning barely features Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) as an adult. It merely presents the state that the world is in during his departure from it. His presence is constant but always in the background in the form of commercials. Now, this is both wonderful and terrible at the same time, and here’s why:

In a world where people are dying, the Earth is collapsing, and the stars are disappearing (the end of days or death of the universe, essentially), people scramble to do their best in case their time is up, a moment of desperation and bittersweet hope that is constantly overshadowed by one unknown: who the hell is Chuck and why are there commercials about him everywhere.

The play with this unknown is fantastic to keep you guessing, completely enthralled in the narrative and, full disclosure, slightly creeped out. Even though this is not strictly a horror film, the combination of strangers meeting in an empty street, with no other light around than strange, green projections of Chuck in various emotional states, you do get restless to say the least.

The key ingredients

Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Iris (Violet McGraw) protagonise this particular scene. McGraw has a vast experience in horror, especially considering her young age, and she’s worked with Flanagan before in The Haunting of Hill House (2018), a series that already showed her incredible talent. As such, it only seems fitting that she is the most intriguing character of the film. A girl in rollerskates whose presence in two different segments with seemingly the same age makes you double take for a second.

This character, as well as the eerie meeting, never gets explained. A gap of knowledge that might be there merely to annoy you, or to encourage you to read the original work in order to understand it. Either way, you will get that sense of incompletion once the movie is over. Like an itch you can’t quite scratch, and you’ll certainly Google the moment you get a minute.

The core

The second and third segments keep turning back the clock. The first with Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) as a young accountant who sometimes stops to smell the flowers, and the second with Chuck (Jacob Tremblay/Benjamin Pajak) as a kid that lives through loss, grief, curiosity, horror, and passion. While these two segments are significantly more tender, mostly since the end of the world isn’t featured in them, all three parts showcase a thoroughly beautiful story that will remind you of the importance of relationships, with those around you and with yourself.

All in all, The Life of Chuck is an unexpectedly compassionate story full of kind souls that showcases the best of humanity through a star-studded cast. It is the type of film anyone can watch at any given moment. It will always manage to reach and touch your heart, regardless of your circumstances.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Sometimes you need to stop and dance.
• If they tell you not to go into a room, DO NOT GO INTO THE ROOM.
• The end of the world can actually be… pretty chill?

What’s your take? Have you watched The Life of Chuck? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀