If you, like so many other Marvel fans, are counting down the days until spotting Tom Hiddleston’s beloved trickster, Loki, again, this one’s for you. While, yes, we are stoked that the actor will be reprising his role after seemingly rounding out his story arc in the Season 2 finale of Loki, there are plenty of other terrific titles from Hiddleston’s expansive catalog to hold you over in the meantime. One of those movies, The Life of Chuck, recently celebrated its streaming arrival in the U.S. on Hulu, where it has quickly climbed the charts and become a favorite on the platform’s Top 10. Despite being the most slept-on Stephen King adaptation of 2025, the heartfelt Mike Flanagan-helmed movie is the perfect choice to kick off your New Year with a little bit of laughter, joy, and existential dread.
Working backwards, The Life of Chuck is told over three chapters, with the end coming first. In it, we meet Hiddleston’s Chuck Krantz, a man who, on the brink of his fortieth year, is dying from a brain tumor. By delivering the big blow of devastation at the very beginning of the movie, King is able to craft a beautiful and joyous look into one man’s life and how he affects those around him.
Though this is the first time that Hiddleston has paired with Flanagan, those who are fans of the filmmaker will recognize a slew of faces that fill out the project’s ensemble. Included are names that have previously dotted the call sheet on the horror director’s other shows and movies, like The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, Hush, The Midnight Club, Oculus and more. Joining Hiddleston as he dances through life are the likes of Samantha Sloyan, Kate Siegel, Karan Gillan, Carl Lumbly, Annalise Basso, Rahul Kohli, Violet McGraw and Heather Langenkamp, as well as other new-to-the-Flanafam talent such as Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Nick Offerman, Matthew Lillard and David Dastmalchian.
‘The Life of Chuck’s Critical Praise
For not raking in as many dollar signs as it deserved during its cinematic run, The Life of Chuck was a huge hit with critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 80% critics’ approval rating against its even more positive 88% audience score. In his review, Collider’s Jason Gorber, who gave the movie nine out of ten stars, wrote,
“Flanagan’s latest is simply a stunner. His finest film is a deeply heartfelt, glorious thing. Dancing between the ruminative and the revelatory, it never succumbs to being maudlin or cloying. The Life of Chuck is a modern fable told with the deftness of a fairy tale, with the sheer exuberance of a musical while exuding the same sense of wonder one gets staring up at the heavens. A life well-lived, indeed.”
The Life of Chuck is now streaming on Hulu.
- Release Date
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May 30, 2025
- Runtime
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110 minutes
