Mike Flanagan has been behind many successful projects, some of which are adaptations of famous classic works such as The Haunted Hill House Netflix series or 2019 Doctor SleepA self-proclaimed Stephen King fan, the filmmaker has tackled several projects based on King’s work, the latest being Chuck’s Lifewhich he proudly calls his best work to date.

Chuck’s Life adapts the news from the 2020 collection If it bleedsstarring Tom Hiddleston as the title character. The novella follows the eponymous character’s life in reverse over three acts. Flanagan wrote and produced the film with Trevor Macy through their Intrepid Pictures banner, and is very proud of the result, confirming to Collider he thinks it’s the best film he’s ever made.

Deviating from their characteristic genre, which is horror, Chuck’s Life is a drama that combines joy, sorrow, loss and happiness. In his speech to the king, he said, “If I could take a chance on this story, it might be the best film I’ll ever make,” and the director still believes the same.I felt the same way while filming.. I felt like this at the end of the first week” he explained.

“Dancing was the first one, which is a sure way to start an independent film, but for all the reasons that you don’t control, that’s the way it happens. And we saw that happen for four days straight, and I’ve seen a lot of things happen over multiple days on a film — it takes forever to make a film — but It’s the first time in my life that I’ve liked what was on the monitor as much, in fact more, than the last shot we did four days later. I I knew something magical was happening. When that little film was finished, we were able to make two more that made me feel exactly the same way.

That feeling stayed with him throughout the film, Flanagan explained. “When Chiwetel and Karen came on set and we suddenly started creating a story that, at first glance, didn’t seem to connect to the experience we had that first week, I had that same feeling.” It stayed with me until the endlooking at Benjamin Pajak, Mark Hamill and Mia Sara.” He concluded: “So, yeah, I really hope they let me keep making movies after this, but if that’s it, I’d be fine with that.” . “

Early reviews of The Life of Chuck were positive.

Tom Hiddleston made his Flanaverse debut, joining a mix of newcomers and returning collaborators like Mark Hamill, Karen Gillan, Annalise Basso, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Carl Lumbly, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Violet McGraw, Heather Langenkamp, ​​Matthew Lillard, Mia Sara, David Dastmalchian, Harvey Guillén, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan, and more.

The film does not have a distributor or a theatrical release date, but it had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and early reviews have been positive. The film debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with an 80%a score that allows the film to meet the criteria to be considered “fresh”. Since its debut, more and more reviews have been received, improving its approval rate at 86%. While the score is high, it only received 21 reviews and therefore does not qualify for Certified Fresh status, as it requires a minimum of 40 reviews given its limited release. The rest of the reactions have been encouraging, and even the author himself had nothing but positive things to say.

Stephen King, who attended Chuck’s Life premiered at TIFF, had already praised the film before its release. King had already said Vanity Fair adaptation is “a happiness machine”.

Source: Collider