Summary
DirectorMike Flanaganexplains why his work no longer has bleak endings.Flanagan has been a notable horror directorfor several years now, with some of his work includingThe Haunting of Hill House,Oculus,Hush,Before I Wake, andDoctor Sleep. After creating the successful seriesThe Fall of the House of Usherlast year, Flanagan’s next major project is directingThe Life of Chuck. The film is an adaptation of a Stephen King novella and features a leading cast including Tom Hiddleston, Karen Gillan, David Dastmalchian, and Jacob Tremblay.
Speaking with Katee Sackhoff on theSackhoff Showpodcast, Flanagan explains an important pivot in his work in recent years. Flanagan explained that in his early career, a lot of his work “had really bleak endings,” but then “pivots right after that.”
Sackhoff asks whether Flanagan could chalk that up to his marriage with his wife, actor Kate Siegel, to which he responded that it was a combination ofher perspective and becoming a father changed the way the director approached storytelling. His work now aims to create “hope and forgiveness and empathy at the end,” as Flanagan details below:
Flanagan: A lot the stuff that I was writing had really bleak endings. And really hopeless endings. It pivots right after that, and everything I’ve done since then hasn’t had that.
Sackhoff : Is that because of Kate?
Flanagan: I think in a lot of ways it is, and it’s because of family. When Kate and I got together, my outlook changed a lot. And as we had kids of our own, and the kids started growing up, it started to become more important for me. Someday they’re going to interrogate our work, right, like someday we’re going to be gone, and if they want to revisit us in an interesting way, they have all this work they can look at. And I never wanted them to come revisit those things and be left on a note of hopelessness. And, so, it’s become incredibly important to me that no matter how dark a story gets, there’s always hope and forgiveness and empathy at the end.
What Does This Mean for The Life of Chuck?
Flanagan’s Approach To Endings Has Been Clear In Recent Years
Given the genre in which Flanagan works, it is fascinating to hear the director talk in this way about his film endings. Flanagan works in the horror genre, so much of his work deals with gruesome images and horrific psychological terror. Even so, tracing back his career, it is evident that more recent work is more forgiving towards its protagonists than early Flanagan, such asAbsentiaandOculus.
It’s interesting to hear Flanagan’s analysis ahead of hisnext film,The Life of Chuck. Overall, itis not a light story, as it begins with Charles Krantz dying at age 39. But, Flanagan’s quote suggests that the director will take an optimistic perspective. WhileThe Life of Chuckis not a horror movie, it does deal with dark themes. Some of that will be offset in a key scene that will likely come toward the middle of the movie involving Chuck (Hiddelston) dancing joyously in the street.
Flanagan’s career pivot helps explain why the director is taking on a project likeThe Life of Chuckin the first place.Flanagan is known for adapting King’s workwithDoctor Sleep,Gerald’s Game,and the upcomingDark Tower. Both King adaptations he has helmed have ended on a hopeful note. In the context of his recent interview, this aligns with the director’s ongoing career goals. This trend will makeThe Life of Chuckfascinating tonally and potentially lay a backdrop for additional interestingproject choices byFlanaganin the coming years.
