Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck isn’t your typical Stephen King horror story about hauntings, mansions and all. Instead, it’s a strange, emotional, and deeply personal journey about one man’s life, told backwards, from death to childhood. Based on a 50-page novella by Stephen King, the film tries to piece together a puzzle of memories of Chuck Krantz, played by Tom Hiddleston, his feelings, and the quiet impact one person can leave behind. Here are five thoughts I had while watching this imperfect, but oddly satisfying movie,
1) This Might Be The Most Gentle Apocalypse Ever Filmed
The movie opens with the world falling apart, earthquakes, sinkholes, nuclear disasters, and the internet going dark. But rather than showing chaos, Mike Flanagan zooms in on people trying to carry on with life. There’s a moment where Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character, Marty, hears that a sinkhole has swallowed cars on his usual commute, and it’s delivered so casually that it feels surreal. That quiet, almost humorous response to disaster sets the tone. It’s not about the end of the world; it’s about how people process endings, and how Marty and his wife embraced the end together.
2) Who Is Chuck
Tom Hiddleston plays Chuck, an average man dying of brain cancer whose mind seems to be taking the world with it. His story unfolds in reverse; we start with his death and then move back through his life. There’s no big twist or secret power. Chuck’s just normal. And Flanagan wants us to feel the beauty in that. The film gently suggests that even ordinary lives contain enough love, memory, and meaning to fill a universe.
3) The Second Act’s Dance Scene Is Weirdly Perfect
One standout scene has Chuck dancing in the street with two strangers, no dialogue, just joyful movement, and my oh my how good was Tom Hiddleston in that scene. It’s spontaneous, emotional, and oddly beautiful. Tom Hiddleston moves like someone who’s suddenly remembered how to feel alive. It captures that rare movie magic where something silly becomes so important. And then, just as quickly, it fades back to reality. That moment felt like the soul of the movie.
4) The Casting Feels Like A Memory Game
Flanagan’s casting choices are clever and always repeated (not that I am complaining, I love seeing the familiar faces in his shows and movies). Mark Hamill, Heather Langenkamp, and Matthew Lillard, all actors who’ve lived in our pop culture memories for decades, show up in supporting roles and of course, Kate Seigel being the cherry on the cake, graced the screen just for a few moments and arguable delivered one of the best scene of the movie. It feels deliberate, like Flanagan’s telling us that certain faces, like certain people in our lives, stick with us forever. Their presence adds an emotional weight, even when the plot doesn’t always land.
5) It Stays With You In Ways You Can’t Even Think Of
Not every part of The Life of Chuck connects. The final act, which showcases Chuck’s childhood, drags a bit and includes a supernatural twist that isn’t fully explored. But strangely, it didn’t matter much to me. The movie’s strength isn’t in its structure, but in its mood and the way it was told (a style of storytelling Mike Flanagan has, which I am totally obsessed with). The scene when the English teacher (Kate Seigel) makes young Chuck understand the meaning of Walt Whitman’s poem is probably going to stay with me forever. Not because it was too sciency or something new, but because it makes you understand that I and you contain pieces of everyone we meet, and we are the culmination of that. It made me reflect on the people in my life, the moments that seem small but mean everything, and the quiet idea that maybe we’re all starring in our own little epics.
In the end, I would like to say that I am large and I contain multitudes – Walt Whitman.