My first experience with Flanagan came in 2016 when I watched Hush, a horror slasher with a deaf protagonist. This was a very simple movie, but felt incredibly fresh and inventive. Afterwards, Flanagan went on to make Ouija: Origin of Evil (aka the good Oujia movie), and a few series for Netflix, like Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, among others. By far his most impressive feat in my opinion though was Doctor Sleep, a sequel to The Shining. With this movie, Flanagan had the impossible task of not only following-up one of the most legendary films of all time (that also departed from its source material), but he had to do it by adapting another Stephen King book. In short, this was a movie doomed to fail and yet, it didn’t! I was actually impressed with the film and how much I enjoyed it and my Gram, who also loved The Shining, felt the exact same way. 

From that day forward, I’ve been preaching the gospel of Mike Flanagan. Midnight Mass was one of the last shows I ever watched with my Gram and I’ll always adore Flanagan for all of his horror films and shows that connected my Gram and me together. 

Life of Chuck is something of a departure for its writer/director Mike Flanagan. While based on a Stephen King short story, it’s not one in the horror genre. As always, I like to give as little detail as possible, but this movie has such a great synopsis that gives you just the right amount of information:

“Charles “Chuck” Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.” 

So is Flanagan better off sticking to his horror roots, or is The Life of Chuck proof that his true genre… is greatness?

My Thoughts

Simply put, I’m so glad to see this departure for Flanagan. Something about his style just allows for the feeling and emotion to ooze out of every scene. The story is told in reverse and it makes the movie really come together beautifully. It’s not just a gimmick to be different, it serves the story so well. 

Chuck is played by various actors including Tom Hiddelston, who plays Chuck as an adult, Cody Flanagan (7 year old Chuck), Benjamin Pajak (11 year old Chuck), and even Jacob Tremblay (17 year old Chuck). Each iteration of Chuck is excellent, but I want to give credit to Benjamin Pajak who was the biggest standout for me. It’s these moments in Chuck’s formative years that so much of the emotion enters the movie and contextualizes everything we’ve seen and experienced so far. Pajak’s acting and his dancing were absolutely spectacular and without such a capable performance, the whole movie could have failed to reach the highs that it did. 

Perhaps it was because of my expectations, but the only thing I really felt missing was a bit more time with Tom Hiddelston as adult Chuck. Make no mistake, he makes the most of his time, but I felt like there was a piece missing to really dial up the emotions as the whole story came together. We will definitely get more into this when we talk about this movie on our podcast, so if you’re not worried about spoilers and want to hear more, make sure to check that out!

Another standout for me was the music. The score was a bit simplistic at times, but it was always incredibly effective. Complementing the score though was the soundtrack. Dancing is a big component of this movie and the songs they use in this at every turn felt absolutely perfect. The dance numbers and the emotion they pour into them made me feel so much that I was kind of shocked. I am decidedly not a dancer, but I was so moved by these moments that it made me envious of the experience and the impact they have on the people that get to experience it. 

The supporting cast here, which is absolutely loaded with Flanagan regulars, all deliver in their own ways, some bigger and smaller than others. It didn’t detract from the movie or anything, but I’m worried that in the future the group of regulars can feel more like a spectacle on their own. For example, in this movie there are so many of them, and some of the roles are small enough that it could feel almost like cameo fatigue. Now make no mistake, I’m not implying that’s what is at all happening here. None of the appearances amount to cameos (except for a flash of Flanagan himself) and the movie doesn’t want us as an audience to pop in excitement at the mere appearance of a familiar actor. Each character has a crucial role to play in the story and all of them excel, but I couldn’t help but feel a slight amount of me getting temporarily pulled out of the movie when these familiar faces would appear. 

As a whole though, this movie is absolutely beautiful. I would describe it as happy/sad in all the best ways. It drew plenty of emotion out of me, even getting me to tear up a little bit at times. If anything, I really wanted the movie to have a moment where the dam would break and the tears would pour out of me. I’m curious if on a second watch that I can reach the emotional catharsis the movie really primed me for.

Verdict

To answer my own question: yes. The Life of Chuck proves that Mike Flanagan’s true genre is greatness.

Honestly, after reflecting throughout this review, I came to the realization that boxing Flanagan in as a horror filmmaker doesn’t do justice to his body of work. Sure, they usually have your typical horror elements, but what sets Flanagan’s horror work apart from all the rest is the characters and the heart that permeates all throughout his stories. So it really shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s just as good at drawing out those emotions outside of the horror genre too.

There’s just something about the way he tells stories that cuts right to the heart. Honest, emotional, and deeply human, this movie reminded me why I love movies in the first place. When it ended, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to sit there, soak it in, and watch it all over again. 

If it wasn’t clear to me before, it is now. Mike Flanagan isn’t just one of my favorite horror directors. He’s one of my favorite filmmakers, full stop.

Life of Chuck is playing right now in theatres. So grab your friends and family and go see this one now!