‘The Life of Chuck’ Teaser: Tom Hiddleston Ponders the Complexities of the Universe

Mike Flanagan's third Stephen King adaptation won the People's Choice Award at TIFF 2024.

Ready for another spooky Stephen King adaptation from Mike Flanagan? Well too bad! With “The Life of Chuck,” Flanagan is only bringing the feels. Sure, the specter of death looms large over the Tom Hiddleston-led drama — plus its interest in the otherworldly is clear — but the story forgoes King’s usual frights for a far more straightforward and sentimental tale of all the vital and divine components that make up a life.

In IndieWire’s review out of TIFF, where “The Life of Chuck” won the People’s Choice Award, critic Katie Rife wrote, “Structured around a verse from Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’ — ‘Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes’ — ‘The Life of Chuck’ is told in reverse order from the end of a man’s life to the beginning. It does so in a way that’s surprising enough that it’s best not to discuss it in too much detail; suffice to say that it takes a cosmic approach to the idea of inner worlds. (‘Every man and every woman is a star,’ to quote Whitman’s fellow literary eccentric Aleister Crowley.) The entire movie isn’t sad, although it does land on a note of genuine pathos. But sentimentality suits Flanagan, whose florid writing style is well matched by the high-concept ideas explored here.”

Though the film came into TIFF with no distributor, Neon quickly acquired it and announced a summer 2025 release. Could this far out release be because they already had their 2024 Oscar player with Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner (now Best Picture winner as well), “Anora”? It begs the question, does Neon see “The Life of Chuck” as a potential awards player, too?

The film is clearly an audience favorite based on its win at TIFF, and the popularity of its cast and creative is evident. In addition to lead actor Hiddleston, the film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, David Dastmalchian, and Matthew Lillard, with Nick Offerman narrating. If one thing is for certain, it’s that like with “Anora” and its previous Oscar winner, “Parasite,” Neon will be giving “The Life of Chuck” a top-notch theatrical roll-out, especially considering its summer box office placement.

Watch the trailer for “The Life of Chuck,” in theaters June 6, below.