As you’d expect given the sheer volume of adaptations that arrive on an annual basis, the Stephen King back catalogue has proven to be consistently inconsistent across both film and television. However, having gone two-for-two so far, you’d expect Mike Flanagan‘s The Life of Chuck to deliver the goods.
Having left Netflix behind following the release of Edgar Allan Poe-inspired smash hit The Fall of the House of Usher, the filmmaker is currently hard at work on his first feature since 2019’s Doctor Sleep, which was of course based on King’s novel of the same name. Crafting a sequel to The Shining is no small feat, but everybody would surely agree that Flanagan knocked it out of the park.
Gerald’s Game is also one of the most nail-biting and stomach-churning originals in Netflix history, and you know exactly what scene can arguably be called the most gruesome to ever air on the streaming service. With that in mind, as well as a concept that focuses on Tom Hiddleston’s title character and his time growing up in an allegedly haunted house, you’d think The Life of Chuck would be a straight-up horror.
Well, according to Flanagan himself, it isn’t. Responding to a question on Tumblr as to whether or not he’d be interested in branching out and tackling genres outside of his wheelhouse, he noted that he’s “working on one right now, The Life of Chuck is not a horror movie.”
Based on the premise, you’d imagine psychological thrills are the bare minimum, which fortunately happens to be another arena in which Flanagan excels.
