#TIFF24: “THE LIFE OF CHUCK” REVIEW – PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER

By Nicholas Porteous

After Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan teams-up with Stephen King once again, but The Life of Chuck is not a spooky spool to make you crawl under the sheets and cover your eyes. On the contrary. It’s a movie about embracing the entirety of your existence. Even if you aren’t Tom Hiddleston. And it’s as much an end-of-the-world story as it is a toe-tapping dance picture. Our story begins with “Act Three”, as the world appears to be coming to an end. Don’t worry–acts two and one are next! Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan are forced to reckon with an existential dread reminiscent of the pandemic, but infinitely worse. On top of this, a mysterious, unknown entity–“Chuck” (Tom Hiddleston) has been popping up all over town. Does he have anything to do with the apocalypse? I won’t say another word, but the answer may surprise you in the best possible way. In this particular narrative climate, we’ve been conditioned to expect some kind of Damon Lindelof-esque, clever unraveling of all the threads that a mystery box story might present up front. The Life of Chuck is a warm, welcome counterpoint to this kind of storytelling.

Acts one and two are all about Chuck, and his connection to the ‘ending’. Were you aware Tom Hiddleston can dance? The spoiler I can’t resist blowing: he’s as good at dancing as he is at being Loki. If I can levy any criticism toward Chuck, I’d say it is occasionally guilty of sentimentality, and using obvious music cues. The movie knows how moving it is from the jump, and it’s not wrong, but I would have appreciated less tipping of those delicate emotional scales. 

Chuck will almost certainly reward multiple viewings, if only for its Where’s Waldo-like smattering of hidden cues and messages that all wrap around and breathe meaning into its profound message. The more I think about it, the better it gets.

The Life of Chuck screens at TIFF ’24:

Friday, September 13th at 12:35 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

Saturday, September 14th at 6:15 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Sunday, September 15th at 6:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre