The Life of Chuckhas debuted on Rotten Tomatoes, and it marks the best Stephen King adaptation score since 2017. Direected by Mike Flanagan, who is best known for projects likeThe Haunting of Hill House(2018),Doctor Sleep(2019), andMidnight Mass(2021),The Life of Chuckis based on King’s novellaof the same featured in hisIf It Bleedscollection from 2020. The upcoming film stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles Krantz with a story that chronicles three distinct chapters in the character’s life.
Following its premiere at TIFF,The Life of Chuckhas now debuted onRotten Tomatoeswith a score of 85% with 20 reviews. This score is sure to fluctuate as more reviews are added, but this currently makes it the highest scoring King adaptation since1922(2017), which sports an impressive 92% score. Check out the chart below to see howThe Life of Chuckstacks up against other recent adaptations of King’s work:
2017
15%
85%
91%
1922
92%
2019
57%
36%
78%
Children of the Corn
2020
12%
2022
11%
45%
2023
61%
2024
What The Life Of Chuck’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Means For The Film
How It Compares To Flanagan’s Past King Adaptations
Flanagan has a very strong hit rate when it comes to positive critical consensus, andThe Life of Chuckcertainly looks to be continuing this trend. As of writing, the film’s 85% score puts the project between Flanagan’s two otherKing feature film adaptations.Gerald’s Gamecurrently leads with an impressive 91%,whileDoctor Sleeptakes third place with its still-respectable score of 78%.
Reviews forThe Life of Chuckthus far have praised the film as a more upbeat and life-affirming entry in Flanagan’s filmography (and King’s own body of work), but it’s a change in tone and direction that seems to work.Hiddleston’s lead performance has been singled out as a highlight, and the film’s ensemble cast in general, which includes Mark Hamill, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, Mia Sara, David Dastmalchian, Kate Siegel, and Jacob Tremblay, is one of the movie’s strengths. What’s unclear, however, is whether the positive critical consensus will help the film at the box office.
Flanagan’s most recent project isThe Fall of the House of Usher(2023)at Netflix, which was critically acclaimed.
Our Take On The Life Of Chuck’s Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Film Marks An Outlier For Flanagan & King
The Life of Chuckdoesn’t yet have a distributor, but that could change in the near future now that it’s premiered at TIFF. As seen in the chart above, not all King adaptations turn out well, andit will be refreshing to see one of the author’s lighter works find success. Flanagan, too, has announced himself as one of the foremost voices in horror over the past few years, but stripping away the scares seems to have resulted in a moving experience.
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Audience reception will be the key toThe Life of Chuck’s success, especially if it ends up getting theatrical distribution. It’s worth noting, however, thatDoctor Sleepended up disappointing at the box office even with an 89% audience score. It remains to be seen howThe Life of Chuckwill fare, but the early response on Rotten Tomatoes is a positive sign.
The Life of Chuck
Cast
The Life of Chuck is a film exploring the life of Chuck Krantz, presented in reverse chronological order.
