Film
2025 (USA) (Drama/Fantasy)
Director: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, Mark Hamill
Solipsism is a philosophical term which suggests that only one’s own mind is sure to exist, and the external world is not known to exist outside of one’s own consciousness. In this view, the world will disappear if one’s consciousness ceased to exist. And so it is with Charles “Chuck” Krantz.
The start of the film tells us that It’s the end of the world—and everyone keeps thanking “Chuck” . School teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) wakes to a collapsing reality: the internet is dead, the weather is lethal, the ground splits, and yet billboards, graffiti and skywriting across town celebrate a handsome, bookish figure, “Charles Krantz: 39 Great Years.” Tom Hiddleston’s enigmatic Chuck is everywhere. Flanagan unfolds the narrative backwards: an apocalyptic present centered on Marty, a middle section that reverses time to reveal Chuck’s adult life and surprising connections, and a final act that returns to the boy he once was, raised by a loving grandmother (Mia Sara) and an alcoholic grandfather (Mark Hamill).
Although based on a short story by Stephen King, there are no scares. It’s a heartfelt, cinematic meditation on the moments that make a life—comforting, strange, and memorable and is anchored by superb performances from Hiddleston, Ejiofor, Gillan and Hamil.
(1h 50 mins)