Last September, NEON acquired Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck.” However, they decided to release it this year, which meant it wouldn’t be part of this year’s Oscar race—despite winning the coveted TIFF People’s Choice Award. A June 6, 2025, release date has been set for the film, and with it comes our first full-length trailer.
The reviews for ‘Chuck’ were fine (64 on Metacritic), and Flanagan diehards at TIFF fully embraced the film, but I didn’t fully connect with the high-concept ideas the film presented.
In my review, I called ‘Chuck’ a “creative” film, bursting with ideas, but also a very “schmaltzy” and “messy” one. Flanagan just can’t help himself in hammering down his message. Part of me really wanted to embrace ‘Chuck’ a little more, especially in how beautifully constructed the whole thing was, but Flanagan is just not that subtle a filmmaker.”
Based on short stories in Stephen King’s 2020 book “If It Bleeds,” the cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Jacob Tremblay. ‘Chuck’ is told in reverse order, from the end of a man’s life to the beginning. The film starts with the death of Chuck (Tom Hiddleston), then proceeds to showcase moments in his life, culminating with his childhood as an orphan in a supposedly haunted house.
Twelve of the last fourteen TIFF winners have gone on to earn Oscar nominations for Best Picture, and four of them won the big prize. Previous winners include “American Fiction,” “The Fabelmans,” “Belfast,” “Nomadland,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “La La Land,” and “12 Years a Slave.”
Meanwhile, Flanagan is on a hot streak these days, having amassed a large fanbase due to his ultra-popular Netflix shows (“The Fall of the House of Usher,” “Midnight Mass,” “The Haunting of Hill House”). Aside from ‘Chuck,’ Flanagan’s other notable films include “Hush,” “Doctor Sleep,” “Oculus,” and “Gerald’s Game.” He’s also set to kickstart a new ‘Exorcist’ trilogy for Blumhouse.