Mike Flanagan and Stephen King’s newest collaboration might lack thrills and chills, however continues to be a bittersweet concoction that’s arduous to not like.

PLOT: An apocalyptic occasion and the lifetime of a mild-mannered accountant named Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) have an odd correlation.

REVIEW: Two varieties of parents might be testing this evaluation of The Life of Chuck—those that have learn the brief story and those that haven’t. To be clear, I’m a kind of who haven’t. I used to be tempted to learn it earlier than making the journey to TIFF to see Mike Flanagan’s big-screen adaptation, however in the long run, I didn’t as a result of I needed to expertise the movie as its personal factor with none preconceived notions.

Pretty a lot proper off the bat, I used to be intrigued by Flanagan’s first function since his final Stephen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep. The movie begins in one in all King’s sleepy small cities, the place a schoolteacher (performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor) tries to maintain his college students engaged despite the fact that they appear to be residing via an apocalyptic occasion. California and many different main cities are not any extra, the web is down (together with – most cruelly of all – PornHub), and even their city appears to be falling aside. The lovelorn instructor and his ex-wife (Karen Gillan) start to reconnect because the world falls to items round them (with all of it defined in one in all Flanagan’s trademark monologues by Matthew Lillard in a small position). But, within the meantime, all over the place they give the impression of being, there are billboards thanking Chuck for thirty-nine years of nice service. 

Who the heck is Chuck?

Flanagan’s movie is split into three acts, and the second two acts (or relatively the primary two because the film takes place in reverse chronological order) reply these questions. Chuck, as performed by Tom Hiddleston, is a kindly, mild-mannered accountant with an inoperable mind tumor who begins to search out the poetry in life and displays on how he ended up the place he’s now. It’s an affecting story that may minimize near the bone to these of us who’ve realized that our time on earth is finite and that the tip, typically, is nearer than you would possibly suppose. 

It all sounds fairly darkish, however like in variations of lots of King’s different tales, reminiscent of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Stand By Me, and even Hearts of Atlantis, the story has a number of sweetness. Indeed, Hiddleston has hardly ever been as likable as he’s right here, with him expertly portraying a person wrestling along with his personal sense that the clock is operating out whereas discovering pleasure in sudden moments. The large show-stopper is a set piece the place Hiddleston and a younger girl (Annalise Basso) have an impromptu dance in entrance of a busker simply because the urge hits them in the suitable means.

Given that it’s King and Flanagan collectively, you would possibly marvel the place the horror side is available in. It must be mentioned – this isn’t that movie. Life of Chuck’s is in no way scary, even when it touches on the supernatural, the apocalypse, and different traditional King themes. But it’s optimistic, sporting a solid of Mike Flanagan regulars. They embrace Mark Hamill in a meaty position as Chuck’s loving grandfather, the long-absent Mia Sara in a stunning position as his spouse, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, Carl Lumbly, and even A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Heather Langenkamp in an sudden (and efficient) cameo. So yeah, it’s probably not horror, nevertheless it has lots of people in it that horror followers love. 

Ultimately, Life of Chuck is completely different for Flanagan as a result of he can totally discover the wealthy characterizations that outline his work with out hitting these style beats. While that may restrict his audiences, his followers (of which I’m one) will undoubtedly admire this detour and discover The Life of Chuck a bittersweet tearjerker. More than something, it’s a warning that our time on earth is restricted and that it’s finest to search out pleasure wherever we are able to, even in probably the most fleeting moments.