A movie based on a Stephen King novella and directed by Mike Flanagan – whose resume includes “Occulus,” “The Haunting of Hill House” and adaptations of King’s “Gerald’s Game” and “Dr. Sleep,” comes with certain expectations – especially since the movie’s plot contains an approaching apocalypse and a door padlocked to keep its secrets contained.
But while “The Life of Chuck” is about loss and death, it is somehow a feel-good movie that embraces sentimentality as it celebrates living. Its centerpiece is a joyous scene (albeit one laced with poignant undertones) where Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) and a stranger named Janice (Annalise Basso) dance in the street to the drums of a busker (played by a dynamo who goes by the moniker, The Pocket Queen).
The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Benjamin Pajak (as middle school Chuck), Mia Sara and Mark Hamill, with pitch-perfect narration from Nick Offerman.
Flanagan, who’s developing a TV series based on King’s “Carrie,” spoke by video about how King’s story and his own personal touches set up such an expectation-defying film.
“I was lucky enough to make it independently, so I didn’t have to worry too much about how a studio or even the audience would react,” Flanagan says, adding wryly. “I don’t envy Neon having to market the film.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Mike Flanagan speaks with actor Benjamin Pajak on the set of ‘The Life of Chuck,’ which is based on a Stephen King novella. (Courtesy of NEON)Q. Why adapt this particular story?
It was certainly not the most obvious one to see on a screen. I read it in 2020 at the beginning of the lockdown, so that apocalyptic opening hit close to home when I was feeling anxious and despairing and scared. But by the end, I had tears on my face because I was feeling optimistic and grateful and joyful. The story was so wise and earnest and utterly uncynical and beautiful.
I’ve never exclusively considered Stephen King a horror writer: There’s “Shawshank Redemption,” “Stand By Me” and “The Green Mile;” even “It” isn’t about a killer clown, it’s about friends whose love for each other makes them brave while “The Stand” is about ordinary people finding courage to stand up for what’s right.
He has always been an optimistic humanist. It’s just that he usually sets that against the contrast of incredible darkness. This story, more than anything he’d ever written, just had the love. It made me look at my life a little differently. It made me wonder if I was seizing enough joy. And if I would walk past the drummer or would have the bravery to put my briefcase down and dance like I didn’t care what people thought.
I wanted to make this film for my kids. I know they’ll have the same feelings as they get older when the center doesn’t hold and the wheels come off and they’re scared of the world they live in. If I’m not here still to offer them any assistance or comfort, I wanted this movie to exist to provide that feeling.
Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Life of Chuck,’ which is based on a Stephen King novella, is about loss and death, but it’s also a joyous movie starring Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara and Mark Hamill. (Photo by Dan Anderson / Courtesy of NEON)Q. How did you handle the sentimentality, humor and hope in a movie about death and dying?
The tone of the movie needed to be one of gentle love and acceptance, regardless of the specific moment of the story we were in. It didn’t matter if the stars were burning out and the sky was falling. It was important that the movie never tried to manipulate the emotional experience, so the music we use while the world is ending is the same we use later while they’re having a pleasant conversation during a sunset or when Chuck is a kid in school learning how to dance.
My intention was to take the wild emotional swings and hold them in a way that communicated to viewers that it’s all OK. I wanted to try to capture the story to lift people the way it lifted me, even if it’s just for those couple of minutes while the characters dance. And I know nothing works for everyone, but if people stick with it, maybe they’ll react the way I did when I read the story.
Q. Carl Sagan and Walt Whitman – and the unlikely connection between the two – are integral to the characters’ lives. Was that all in the story?
Whitman is in the foreground in the story, but I added Sagan. I’m a Carl Sagan fanatic. Steve’s story and this movie are a prism for your own life, and I kept bumping up on the themes that Steve was putting out about time and our place in the cosmos and how we’re simultaneously so small but so extraordinary. It seemed to echo Sagan’s writing. I’d seen The Cosmic Calendar on “Cosmos” when I was a kid, and it really resonated with me then but also felt in harmony within this story we were telling.
Q. Let’s talk about “Back to the Future.” There’s a middle school dance with a “Back to the Future” theme. It looked like Chiwetel Ejiofor even wore the same jacket as the musicians from the “Johnny B. Goode” scene… and is carrying a guitar.
“Back to the Future” was a defining movie from my childhood. It also points to the film’s structure. And I always loved the idea that Marty McFly went back in time with this incredible power to change things, but all he ends up trying to do is put things back where they were to begin with – it wasn’t about changing the future, it was about appreciating the present. We went a little crazy, actually – Trinity Bliss, who plays Chuck’s dance partner, wears a dress very similar to Lea Thompson’s dress, and her boyfriend wears a Marty McFly vest. So the scene felt like a cheeky Easter egg, but it also worked also thematically.
Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Life of Chuck,’ which is based on a Stephen King novella, is about loss and death, but it’s also a joyous movie starring Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara and Mark Hamill. (Photo by Dan Anderson / Courtesy of NEON)Q. Narration is often used to paper over storytelling gaps, but it worked great here. How much of that was King’s words and how much of that was Offerman’s delivery?
So much of King’s prose is so beautiful and brought so much meaning to this story, I didn’t know how to match the impact without these words. I needed them in the movie, but I also hate improper use of voice-overs in movies, and with the wrong narrator, this would have become incredibly pretentious.
Evan Bolter, my director of photography, had shot the “Last of Us” episode with Nick Offerman and suggested him. The second I imagined his voice reading it, I knew he’d be perfect. We didn’t have any money, but we sent him the script and he loved the writing so much that he did it.
Q. If you opened a door and learned when you were going to die, would you run off and pursue far-flung fantasies or strive for normalcy and security?
Tom Hiddleston and I were debating whether we’d even want to open the door. I would love to say that I would not open the door, just move on and live my life to its fullest on my own. But I know me a little better than that, and I wouldn’t be able to resist opening the door.
If I did, my hope would be I would spend as much time as humanly possible with my kids. I would travel the world with my family, creating experiences for them and for me that are distinct and unique and not based on a screen – although I would spend plenty of time toward the end trying to watch as many of my favorite movies as possible.
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