The Life of Chuck: On the red carpet with Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mike Flanagan at SXSW London 2025

Stephen King’s novella The Life of Chuck has been taken into the hands of filmmaker Mike Flanagan and adapted into an uplifting and life-affirming feature that remains faithful to the lines in the original book. With a narrative that traverses many human experiences and emotions, the film has been divided into three parts that explore different timelines in reverse-chronological order.

We first join the story when we are on the verge of the end of the world, with a rise in natural disasters stretching across the globe. A mysterious figurehead – an accountant called Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) – is rolled out on posters and TV stations, and as the chapters unfold on screen, we start to piece together his life and the significance of his presence. The movie brings in a brilliant cast across the board, and music and dance drive the story narrative in a unique and emotionally bound journey.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of speaking to filmmaker Flanagan about choosing this story, why he cast Hiddleston and some of the wider themes in the film.

Hiddleston spoke about what attracted him to the script, the dance and choreography, and working with Benjamin Pajak as the younger version of his character.

We spoke to Chiwetel Ejiofor about his role as Marty and the surprise elements of this King adaptation.

Ezelle Alblas

The Life of Chuck is released nationwide on 22^nd August 2025.

Watch the trailer for The Life of Chuck here:

https://youtu.be/h7YABBTStds