Mike Flanagan 's track record adapting the works of Stephen King isn't just impressive because the movies he has made are independently phenomenal works that reflect a perfect understanding of the source material; it's also because of the titles that he chooses are exceptionally challenging to adapt. His first, Gerald's Game , is a story set almost entirely in a single location centering on a protagonist who is handcuffed to a bed and forced to confront memories of awful childhood abuse. His second, Doctor Sleep , is a sequel to one of the greatest horror films of all time , Stanley Kubrick's The Shining , and also had to take into consideration King's notorious dislike of Kubrick's movie.
That brings us to the Toronto International Film Festival world premiere of The Life Of Chuck – which is based on a novella I read shortly after it was first published in 2020 and made me think, "Well, I guess this one is never going to get an adaptation." But Mike Flanagan clearly has a very special brain, and he has once again succeeded in making one of the best Stephen King movies ever. What makes the material such a challenge is found in both the story and the structure, and yet, Flanagan's adaptation is perfectly faithful – going as far as to actually include Stephen King's prose via wonderful narration by the great Nick Offerman .
The film plays out in three specific acts that unfurl in reverse chronological order, each very different but all part of the same narrative. Act III, t.