The Life of Chuck (2025)

"Moving, Uplifting, and Quite, Quite Lovely"

After a short stint in UK cinemas, Studio Canal have released writer-director Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's novella (which you can find in his collection If it Bleeds) on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.

It's not the easiest film to talk about without giving away spoilers, both in terms of plot and the cast members who pop up along the way, suffice to say that this is a story in three acts, told in reverse order. Act Three begins with a world on the brink of destruction. Earthquakes have destroyed California, Florida has flooded and the rest of the world has been subjected to the same kind of disasters.

During all of this, teacher Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) decides to make his way across town to see his ex-wife Felicia (Karen Gillan). All around him are billboards and TV adverts thanking someone called Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) for 39 'great years'. But neither Marty, nor anyone he meets, has any idea who Charles Krantz is. However we will, and as the film progresses we begin to understand why he is so important to the people we have been introduced to.

THE LIFE OF CHUCK is very much the Stephen King of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION or STAND BY ME, and Mike Flanagan shows he is just as adept as Frank Darabont and Rob Reiner at telling the moving, bittersweet, ultimately uplifting tale of Chuck's life and exactly why it's so important. Flanagan fans familiar with his TV work especially will spot a number of familiar faces, and if you're fan of 1980s and 1990s cult cinema then there will be other actors you'll recognise, too.

Studio Canal's disc comes with an 18 minute making of featuring interviews with Flanagan and some of the principal actors, and there are more in depth interviews with Hiddleston (14 minutes), Ejiofor (10 minutes) and Mark Hamill (9 minutes). There's also a Mike Flanagan commentary. The presence of both his and Stephen King's name may make you prepared to be scared but instead THE LIFE OF CHUCK is, for those old enough, like a very touching episode of The Twilight Zone. No shocks, just a lovely story well told by a master craftsman, ably assisted by talented cast and crew. Excellent stuff. 

Mike Flanagan's film of Stephen King's THE LIFE OF CHUCK is out now from Studio Canal on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD