Going to the movies over the summer has to be my favorite time of the year to catch a new release. There’s just something about taking time out of the beating sunlight with friends and family, and enjoying munching on popcorn as you watch a story unfold on the big screen. There’s actually way too many 2025 movie releases out right now than I have time to go see, but so far I’m especially happy I took the time to go out to see an underrated and atypical summer release, the new Stephen King adaptation, The Life Of Chuck.
Why? It’s what I would categorize as a life-affirming movie, and the more I think about it, those are actually really hard to come by. I seriously haven’t stopped thinking about this movie since I watched it. You can read more about my thoughts on its moving ending or why it had our staff member sobbing in a movie theater for the first time ever, but what I want to talk about here is the importance of watching movies that remind one about the beauty of living, and the journey I’m now embarking on to discover more. I get why it’s visually less appealing for movie-going audiences, but I think they are my favorite type of film.
The Life Of Chuck Is My Favorite Theatrical Experience Of The Year So Far
Somehow we’re about six months into the year, and as a movie journalist who goes to the theaters a lot, I realized that The Life Of Chuck is the best time I feel like I’ve spent there this year (behind some honorable mentions being movies like the twisty horror flick Companion and Ryan Coogler’s universally-acclaimed Sinners). While I didn’t necessarily realize it at the time, as I’ve had more time between seeing it almost a month ago and now, the messages of the movie continue to cycle through me in the best way.
Without spoiling the movie itself, The Life Of Chuck takes you through one man’s life, which is oftentimes very tragic, and ends with a message about how vast and incredible our minds are, and why living life itself is the greatest gift – especially if we make it a priority to live it to the fullest, despite whatever is thrown at you. If you’re reading this and thinking that maybe I should read more ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ quotes, I get where you’re coming from, but also it’s not about the message itself really, it’s about the way in which writer/director Mike Flanagan adapted Stephen King’s short story to deliver the message.
For those who have seen it, I can’t stop thinking about the scene where Chiwetel Ejifor and Karen Gillan are staring at the stars, or when Chuck leaves the locked room at the end of the movie. How you experience the journey with the characters themselves is what I think makes The Life Of Chuck so enduring, and I can’t wait to come back to it throughout my life, especially when I’m experiencing another phase of it.
It Made Me Think About What Other Movies Make Me Feel Similarly
I started to think about what other movies under the category of life-affirming have even come out prior to The Life Of Chuck, and I originally drew kind of a blank – especially in terms of recent releases. I then turned to some of my co-workers, who are all big cinephiles like me by posing the question, and I received some stellar examples. The Field of Dreams, Big Fish, Everything Everywhere All At Once, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Pursuit of Happyness, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Forrest Gump were some of the titles thrown out.
Upon further research I found some more to mull over and a trend started to form. IMDB for example suggests The Shawshank Redemption (which makes sense given the Stephen King of it all), Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Groundhog Day, Cast Away and Inside Out. And I can distinctly remember the first time I watched each of these movies, and the handprints that it left on me as a movie viewer. Yet oftentimes, as a viewer, I also haven’t watched many of these more than once because they made me so emotional and gave me a lot to think about, too.
I’m Officially On A Journey To Watch More
I’m a huge fan of all kinds of movies, from horror to science fiction and so forth, but seeing The Life Of Chuck is making me realize something else. The life-affirming film is high up there on my favorite types of movies I like to watch. Maybe it’s because I’m someone who deals with general anxiety disorder, and I am constantly having to find a positive side of things outside the “what if” bad thing, but I think greater than that, I love to experience movies that make me feel happy and joyful to be experiencing the life I am living.
I think so many movies fall into the escapism or distraction category, which I totally love too, but I’m absolutely drawn to the idea that we’re all kind of experiencing the same thing as humans and when movies can remind me that my own life is actually as valid as all these make-believe worlds that oftentimes seem more exciting. I definitely need to pull out some of the oldies more often and rewatch these sorts of movies more.
But that brings me to my final point. Upon reflection of all of this, I’m actually quite bummed, because I’m also realizing how hard life-affirming movies are to come by these days. While a movie like Forrest Gump in 1994 made $678 million worldwide becoming the second-highest grossing movie behind The Lion King of that year, The Life Of Chuck has practically bombed at the box office, with a $6 million haul across a month. And yet, movies like this are so vital to why I love the medium in the first place.
Now I turn to you…
