The Life of Chuck Review: Amazing Tale About Life and The Beautiful Moments Within It

Director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Hush) takes a break from his classic horror with The Life of Chuck, a story tackling the simple and expansive theme of life itself.

Synopsis:

"Charles "Chuck" Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us."

Cast:

Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Carl Lumbly, Nick Offerman

Release Date:

In Theaters Now

Incredible Glimpse Into The Human Experience

Credit: NEON

This film has a rather simple premise and is pretty slow, looking at it just from the surface. However, the film is trying to tell an overarching theme that will probably go over the head of many who watch. At its heart, it's really a film about how beautiful life can be when we focus on the moments that make it special. The film mostly centers around Chuck (Hiddleston) and different chapters of his life, using that lens to show that even someone as ordinary as him can have an incredible story to tell. Chuck is a really simple guy, spending most of his time in this film as an unsuspecting accountant. But as the story goes on, we learn why his life really was so special and tragic at the same time. He didn't go out and do anything outstanding for the world, but this film is trying to tell you that it's okay. Even with as simple a life as the one that Chuck lived, you can still have many moments that capture the human experience in the best way possible.

Mike Flanagan crafts together a very multilayered story that only continues to unravel the more you think about the film. Although the actual story is very basic and unassuming, it's an incredible narrative about life that can be relevant to every single person in the audience. We've all had these moments that Chuck has, small glimpses of happiness mixed in with the absolute worst of life. Chuck experiences tragedy after tragedy, but the things that stick with us the most are these beautiful moments that he had when he was able to really connect with his true self. I'll get into one of those specific scenes in the section below, but just overall it's a story that captivates you even if you can't totally understand why. The reality is that Chuck is a relatable character in so many ways and it speaks to the incredible performance from Hiddleston. He isn't even really on screen that long, but when he is it requires a very detailed performance to portray the emotions that the story is attempting to portray.

Choreographed Dance Scene Stands Out

Credit: NEON

To me, the main standout scene from this film is the long dance scene with Hiddleston towards the middle. The first reason is simply because this scene is so well made in every way. Hiddleston not only has amazing dance moves, but the way he inserts himself into the scene is incredible and allows us to learn a lot more about his characters psyche. The music, the way Hiddleston works with the beat and the crowd slowly starting to form allow for a beautiful piece of cinema. More than just that, it's another great narrative about the human connection. It's a moment that is so simple, just somebody dancing on the street, but turns into a huge set piece where an entire crowd forms to see this man living out a lost dream. Nobody knows why he's dancing, how he knows all these moves, but the most important thing is that he brought everyone together for even something as simple as a dance number. The drummer, Chuck and everyone in the crowd seems to have the absolute time of their lives, showing how simple life can really be when we all come together.

The other reason this scene is so unbelievably well done is its context within the actual film. The way this scene is placed within the story makes it so we don't totally understand the reasoning behind any of it right away. This is our first, and really only, time with the grown up version of Chuck. This gives the audience minimal time to digest the scene and its meaning, but it really comes to a head when we get to the earlier chapters of his life. There's multiple scenes towards the end of the film, specifically one between Tremblay and Hamill, which completely makes you appreciate the dance number in ways you never thought before. I'm not going to fully get into it because I'm avoiding saying any spoilers, but safe to say that the way it all ties together is nothing short of beautiful in every way. Chuck takes real care in when he shows his true emotions and when we learn the reason for that, it brings everything together perfectly. All of this speaks to the incredible filmmaking from Flanagan and the outstanding performances from the whole cast.

Star Studded Cast Delivers

Credit: Deadline

Although Hiddleston is top billing and his character is most important to the film's plot, pretty much every member of the main cast gets equal screentime. This allows for many amazing performances, even past the already impressive Hiddleston. I first have to mention Ejiofor, as he is the main focus of our first act of the film. Although he's playing a pretty ordinary character, his relationships with the people around him and the world he's living in ask for a very precise performance. Ejiofor completely delivers on this front, with some of those best moments being with the equally as spectacular Gillan. Both of them represent everything complex about relationships in this world, making for not only heartbreaking but also relatable performances. Mark Hamill is obviously amazing as always, being someone who will just never lose his touch. Tremblay is a great scene partner for him, with the younger actor accomplishing the tough task of following Hiddleston's portrayal of Chuck. Everything Tremblay does makes us understand why Chuck acted the way he did later in his life and that is credit to his incredible acting skills. Nick Offerman also does outstanding as our narrator throughout the entirety of the film. Mia Sara, Kate Siegel, Annalise Basso, Samantha Sloyan and Trinity Bliss also deserve credit for performances that will probably end up as underrated given the status of the rest of the cast.

Strange Pacing Works When Needed

Credit: NEON

The only real drawback to this film is that the way the story is formatted can feel odd and messy at points. It wasn't as big as a problem for me, but I'm sure it will be for others. This is due to the fact that the story is split up into three parts and the events are told in reverse order. This makes it so the earlier acts can be somewhat less engaging as we wonder what's really going on with Chuck. Once those revelations are made, it's very satisfying and comes together very well. But due to Flanagan choosing to tell the story this way, there were points early on where things felt very slow and unimportant to the story at large. Now, these events obviously do end up as important, but my point is that it doesn't reach that point until further in the film. Again, I understand why it was told this way and it's not a huge problem, but it does work against the entertainment value. I'm not sure I would have told it any differently, but it is something I pondered when thinking of how to rate this movie.

Final Thoughts

Credit: NEON

The Life of Chuck is not a film that will work for everybody, but it really did for me. It's such an interesting narrative about life that really the whole audience should be able to connect with in some way. There's many facets and layers to the story that I'm sure I haven't digested now, but will at some point over the next week of thinking about this film. This turned out to be a really beautiful watch and I hope it gets some consideration when we get to awards season. Go see this movie!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

2025 Ranked:

Note: I only included the top 20 out of the 41 2025 new releases that I've seen so far this year, for editing purposes.