Why ‘The Life of Chuck’ Is the Best Stephen King Screen Adaptation Yet

Beware, Stephen King fans who are here for the scares: The Life of Chuck might not be your thing.

But for those of us who keep coming back to the prolific author’s works for humanity through the lens of supernatural and horror elements, this newest movie adaptation might just be one of the — or, dare we say, the — best King page-to-screen efforts yet.

Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, The Life of Chuck is adapted from King’s novella of the same name, published as part of his 2020 short-story collection If It Bleeds.

The movie is led by Tom Hiddleston as the titular, mysterious Chuck Krantz, with a supporting cast that includes Mark HamillMia SaraChiwetel EjioforKaren GillanMatthew LillardAnnalise Basso and Kate Siegel. A young Chuck is portrayed at different points in his childhood and adolescence by Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay.

Tom Hiddleston in The Life of Chuck (2025).

Courtesy of Neon


It’s difficult to really get into the meat of who Chuck is — and exactly what his story is — without giving too much away. As Hamill, 73, tells PEOPLE, “I said to the producers, ‘I’m not going to be very good on the promotional trail, because how do you describe the indescribable?’ ”

“All I can say is go see it. Trust me,’ ” adds the Star Wars legend.

Read on for five reasons why The Life of Chuck stands out, to this King fan, as the best screen adaptation of one of his works thus far. (Thanks, Chuck!)

1. Two words: Mike Flanagan.

Flanagan, 47, is perhaps better known for his presence in the TV space, with hits on Netflix like The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021) and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023). But this isn’t his first feature-film King rodeo, having previously helmed Gerald’s Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019).

The Life of Chuck also features appearances from several actors who have been involved in past Flanagan projects, including Hamill, Hamish Linklater and Rahul Kohli — and, of course, Flanagan’s wife Siegel, 42. Their son Cody even makes his acting debut as young Chuck.

Mike Flanagan and son Cody Flanagan on the set of The Life of Chuck (2025).

Courtesy of Neon


Flanagan’s penchant for telling stories that technically fit the horror genre while also conveying a larger message about the human condition made him a perfect fit for a story that had Gillan, 37, asking herself, “What would it feel like at the end of everything?”

“Sitting with it for a little while and trying to really understand how I might feel, so many different emotions came up,” the Guardians of the Galaxy actress adds. “There’s obviously terror and dread and fear of the unknown, but there’s also moments of levity and a calmness as you resign yourself to it — and maybe even a little humor in the face of something so terrifying.”

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Tom Hiddleston and Karen Gillan in The Life of Chuck (2025).

Courtesy of Neon


2. It got Mia Sara to come back to acting.

Flanagan’s “incredible storytelling” was enough to bring Sara, 57, out of an acting hiatus after almost 15 years. As the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star tells PEOPLE, she’s “a crazy fan girl” of his work, and her whole family are also “huge fans” of the filmmaker.

“We met socially … and he just said, ‘Don’t you ever really want to work again?’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ ” recalls Sara, who plays Chuck’s grandmother, Sarah, in the film, opposite Hamill as his grandfather Albie. “[Flanagan] said, ‘What if I offered you something?’ I said, ‘Well, okay, if you offer me something, I’ll do it.’ ”

Asked whether she’d do another acting project after The Life of Chuck, she insists of Flanagan, “If Mike needs me, I’ll be there.”

Mia Sara, Mark Hamill and Cody Flanagan in The Life of Chuck (2025).

NEON


3. It doesn’t fully lean on horror to tell the story.

Like some of the scarier stories King, 77, is more famous for — Carrie, The Shining, It, etc. — The Life of Chuck puts its trust fully in the author’s talent for multilayered character development and storytelling. But here, King and Flanagan do it without a heavy hand on the macabre, even though the initial canvas is only a short-story format.

That’s not to say The Life of Chuck doesn’t contain a horror element at all, as it wouldn’t be a King (or Flanagan, for that matter) story without it. But as Ejiofor, 47, tells PEOPLE, “There’s a very unique quality to this, in the tone, in what it’s speaking to philosophically — how emotional it is, how wise it is about the modern day and the modern sensibilities, how it talks about the world we live in and the collapse of the world, in some ways.”

“Then [it has] this very rich, almost spiritual center, which, some of [King’s] work does communicate that,” the Oscar nominee continues. “But this, I just think it becomes, in this everyman quality, very profound. It has all of those Stephen King qualities, but they feel very enhanced in this film.”

Carl Lumbly and Chiwetel Ejiofor in The Life of Chuck (2025).

Courtesy of Neon


4. Tom Hiddleston dances. (Yes, that is enough.)

Arguably the buzziest pre-release chatter about The Life of Chuck revolved around a dance number from Hiddleston, 44, and Basso, 26, that lasts for several minutes — and as a viewer, it’s a challenge not to mirror the infectious smiles of the bystanders in the scene.

“It’s completely spontaneous and joyful,” Hiddleston told PEOPLE in September 2024 of the sequence. “I hope the audience finds it as spontaneous and joyful as we did.”

Equally ebullient is a scene where an adolescent Chuck (played by newcomer Pajak) comes out of his shell at a school dance. Chuck puts to good use some moves initially taught to him by his grandmother in a sweet earlier kitchen scene from their family home, set some time after the death of his parents and unborn baby sister — when Chuck, Sarah and Albie finally start to feel a little whole again.

“Benjamin is so amazing … heartbreaker, that kid,” Sara tells PEOPLE of Pajak. “He’s so talented. We had a great time.”

5. It contains multitudes.

Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” features heavily in The Life of Chuck, particularly the line, “I am large, I contain multitudes” — a fitting framework for the story’s three-chapter structure that begins with a breath-catching Act III, like the short story, then moves backward in time to fill in the gaps.

One scene where a young Chuck’s teacher (played by Siegel) discusses the poem with him is a poignant one. As Hamill describes, “[She] takes Chuck’s head in her hands, and that moment, I think, summarizes what it’s all about in a very direct way.”

Hamill also tells PEOPLE he didn’t realize how impactful the movie would be until seeing it with a full audience during its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024.

“That was a revelation; you could just feel the energy. They were with us the entire way,” he says. “When the lights came up, there were grownups with tears in their eyes. I mean, you could just feel that it had hit the target, and people were deeply moved.”

The Life of Chuck, from NEON, is in theaters now.


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