If, when you think of Mike Flanagan, you think of Midnight Mass, or The Fall of the House of Usher, then his next adaptation may give you a bit of tonal whiplash. The Life of Chuck is based on the Stephen King story of the same name, which tells one man’s life story in reverse, from his early demise to his childhood in a (haunted?) house.
This is not Flanagan’s first King rodeo, nor will it be his last (new takes on both Carrie and The Dark Tower series are in his future). But it is, maybe, his most sentimental—or at least sentimental-seeming. There’s very little sense, in this trailer, of what the movie is actually about; it’s primarily composed of disconnected scenes that flow one to the next while we hear two different actors deliver dialogue about the wonders of the world, and the score insists that you have feelings about the things they’re saying.
It feels very bossy! And sort of unearned! But such is the way of trailers. And whatever charms the trailer lacks, the movie makes up for with its cast, which includes Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Jacob Tremblay, Mark Hamill, Carl Lumbly, David Dastmalchian, Mia Sara, Rahul Kohli, Michael Trucco, Harvey Guillén, Q’orianka Kilcher, and, of course, Kate Siegel.
The Life of Chuck is in theaters in select cities on June 6th, and everywhere June 13th.
