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I've Never Sobbed Over A Movie, And I Didn't Expect The New Stephen King Adaptation To Be The Trigger
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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.
Ahead of 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.
That melancholic feeling about accepting the world's end, and the anger of doing nothing about it, quickly faded away when I learned why this world was ending. Toward the end of Act III, it's revealed that Chuck, the man on the billboard who no one knows, is dying. So, I quickly figured out that as the power went out and sinkholes appeared on this planet, it was actually Chuck passing away, and this world was in his mind.
This idea of a whole universe ceasing to exist when someone dies hit me like a ton of bricks. That's because it's true, in a single person's mind lives an entire unique interpretation of the world, and that is depicted in this film through the town we see that ends when Chuck dies.
Then, as the movie went on, this realization grew deeper and deeper as I got to know the man whose light went out. By the end, I wasn't just thinking about him dying, I was thinking about this vast universe going away too that he'd created, and that profound realization made me shed a tear for sure.
Every moment involving dance in this movie made me immensely happy. But the one that made me smile the biggest, made me glassy-eyed, was the one involving Cuck and his grandmother in his kitchen.
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Realizing that his adoration for dance began with her, and the way they both put their fingers up in a point and ticked their wrist to the beat, is so cute and also deeply meaningful. It became clear to me that Chuck's grandmother helped give him his spark, and she helped teach him how to love life. And my grandmother, my Nannie, did the same thing for me.
While we didn't dance, we did jam to music in the car, garden, swim and talk about life together. She was my best friend, and losing her when I was 21 was deeply painful. However, the time I did get with her was magical, and it's impacted my life in the grandest, most positive way.
Chuck seemed to go through the same thing in this movie with his grandmother, and that made my heart achingly happy. It made me think about that magical relationship I had and how formative it was. It also made me remember that her life ended too early. But more importantly, it made me appreciate, love and cherish the time I did get with her.
As the above sections show, there were a multitude of moments that culminated in the waterfall of tears that came at the end. However, the breaking point was at the very end, when the movie closed with the same words as Stephen King's short story:
I will live my life until my life runs out. I am wonderful, I deserve to be wonderful, and I contain multitudes.
Obviously, this line is repeated throughout the film; however, it was the mix of Chuck seeing himself on his deathbed and hearing it one more time, and then the story ending right then and there, that hit me the hardest.
I think it was a statement and a moment I needed to see. I needed to remember how short life is, and how important it is for me to understand my self-worth, accept myself for exactly who I am, and live my life on my own terms.
We're only around for a brief period of time. We deserve to spend that time living it in whatever ways we find wonderful, because we deserve it, and we are wonderful.
Truly, what 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.
