The Life of Chuck

There are two sides to Stephen King: one of them is fascinated by malevolence and death, and the other embraces love and life. This apocalyptic fantasy — adapted and directed by Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep; Gerald’s Game) has evidence of both the macabre and the heartwarming King, but ultimately belongs with Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption in the affirmative camp.

Act III: Chiwetel Eljiofor is a high school teacher trying to keep his classes going even as the world falls apart all around him (amusingly, the internet has been out for months — no more pornhub!). He’s intrigued by billboards and radio ads congratulating the eponymous Chuck. But who is he, and what’s he looking so pleased about at the end of everything?

Act II: Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) is an… accountant?

Act I: No spoilers

The winner of the coveted Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival last year (past winners include American Fiction, The Fabelmans, Belfast and Nomadland), The Life of Chuck keeps us guessing about what it’s up to and where it’s going… That’s a great feeling for an audience, but a nightmare for the marketing department, and the movie didn’t exactly set the box office on fire. Trust us, it’s a keeper.

Dancing between the ruminative and the revelatory, it never succumbs to being maudlin or cloying. The Life of Chuck is a modern fable told with the deftness of a fairy tale, with the sheer exuberance of a musical while exuding the same sense of wonder one gets staring up at the heavens.

Jason Gorber, Collider

One of this year’s best movies. I don’t know how it will fare at the box office, but I can see it becoming a beloved favorite in the same way The Shawshank Redemption ultimately did. Like that classic, this one really makes you think about life and the things we take for granted.

Odile Henderson, Boston Globe