Prepare Yourself for 'The Life of Chuck' (2025) | Film Review

Prepare yourself for The Life of Chuck (2025)

From childhood to adulthood, Charles "Chuck" Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.

The Life of Chuck (2025) is a film that questions our existence, it discusses how we live our lives and if we are living them to the fullest. This is a story that will have an individual impact on audiences, no two people are the same and I think this film will resonate with some and go over the heads of others. 

To some extent, The Life of Chuck (2025) is life-affirming, it’ll make you feel full and excited to live each day to its fullest but on the other hand, this film may evoke an existential crisis and remind you that we are a mere blip in the grand scheme of time. The is a genre-bending story that explores themes of loneliness, heartache, love, grief and self reflection. Based the Stephen King's short story, you can imagine this is an intelligently orchestrated plot of events, as you keep watching everything slowly slots into place. 

The film is structured into three chapters, told in reverse order, we watch the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz. I loved this structure and found it to be a really intriguing way to introduce the character, he is a complete enigma at the beginning but with time all is revealed. 

The overarching message of time resonated with me above all else, discussing the cosmic calendar and our time on earth was a little scary but mostly refreshing and comforting. Grasping our existence on earth in relation to everything that has come before was mind blowing and I loved how this film explored that notion. 

Although I loved the narrative structure, the pace of the film slowed dramatically during act 2 and I started to loose interest. Act 3 regained my attention but I cannot help but wish act 2 was shorter or simply gave us more of a chance to understand Chuck in his adult life. Act 1 and 3 were easily the strongest and the most memorable of the whole feature. 

Tom Hiddleston was a great casting choice for this film, he was subtle enough in his approach to be an intriguing, enigmatic character. I wanted to know more about his version of Chuck, sadly our time with him was short but regardless, Hiddleston did a magnificent job of transporting us into his world. His dancing was also pretty fun to watch, he’s a natural. 

The cast as a whole was effortlessly believable, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Mark Hamill, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Siegel and Nick Offerman’s narration to name a few. I loved each performance and felt like they all added charm and nuance to the narrative, ironically each of the characters started to create their own universe around Chuck - I was intrigued by each of them, especially Chiwetel Ejiofor. 

Remember, every life is a universe all its own. There is no doubt that Mike Flanagan is a visionary director, he has an eye for detail and a passion for unique stories. The Life of Chuck (2025) is another intriguing story to add to his plethora of projects, although it isn’t my favourite from him i was still moved by the film and I know a handful of moments are going to stay with me. 

Overall, The Life of Chuck (2025) is a head scratcher, it’s a thought provoking, potentially life affirming feature that will leave you pondering your existence. I was expecting it to resonate with me more than it did but I still enjoyed the overall pacing, structure, cinematography and performances. 

Probe Points

★★★