Up to this point in my life, no movie had ever made me sob. I’m not a crier, I never have been. However, when the latest Stephen King adaptation was released on the 2025 movie schedule, I ugly cried in a movie theater for the first time ever. That’s right, a Stephen King movie made me sob, and I can safely say I never saw that coming.
However, after I tell you why The Life of Chuck was the film that made me break down in tears, I think you’ll understand why this book-to-screen adaptation was the first one ever to pull this kind of reaction out of me.
Spoilers for The Life of Chuck are ahead! Read with caution, and catch the movie in theaters now.
The Life of Chuck’s release, I knew it’d be an emotional journey. However, I didn’t expect it to be that way from the jump. This movie does a brilliant job of punching you in the face with a lot of emotions, and for me, it started with fear, anger and melancholy as the world ended during the film’s first part, Act III.
Before I knew what this world ending crisis actually was, I was sitting there, fighting off tears, as the characters simply accepted that the situation sucked and there wasn’t much they could do about it. That feeling of dread and helplessness is one that didn’t feel far off from what I felt during COVID or when any major climate disaster happens.
Thinking about that anger and dread I felt during The Life of Chuck’s first part made me emotional. However, it really got me when I figured out why the world was ending.
Mike Flanagan did with the brilliant The Life of Chuck was like a magic trick. It’s like sleight of hand; while it’s presenting this existential, dreadful story at the start, it sneaks up on you and flips into a truly life-affirming and celebratory tale.
This movie is life encapsulated, meaning it’s equal parts tragic and happy. It also addressed the inevitable head-on – our lives are not infinite, and it’s guaranteed to end. I don’t know about you, but that’s something I don’t think about often because it’s scary, so having it so directly addressed is emotional.
Meanwhile, The Life of Chuck is also a celebration of life and its meaning. Since we’re only here for a brief time in the grand scheme of things, we need to do what we love and appreciate all the small and lovely things in the world. To take a page out of Chuck’s world, we need to dance.
That’s why The Life of Chuck made me sob. It made me realize how vast the world is and how small I am. But it also made me realize how big and wonderful I am, too. It had me thinking about the universe I’ve built in my own head, the people who have impacted me and helped me become who I am, and the tragedy and happiness that comes with all of it.
To put it simply, The Life of Chuck made me cry because it encapsulated everything that makes life worth living in a profound, tragic and celebratory way.