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Mike Flanagan: 5 things to know about the new master of the fantastic
After The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and Doctor Sleep (2019), the new master of the fantastic proves he is not limited to that genre. His latest feature film, The Life of Chuck, currently in theaters, is proof. Here are 5 things to know about director Mike Flanagan…
By La rédaction.
Mike Flanagan’s latest feature actually makes the title of this article inaccurate… With The Life of Chuck, a contemplative adaptation of a novella by Stephen King released earlier this week, the 47-year-old American director steps momentarily away from the supernatural shadows to explore the inner light of the human soul.
The Life of Chuck, Mike Flanagan’s new film starring Tom Hiddleston
Yet, despite this contemplative interlude, he remains one of the most compelling storytellers in contemporary fantastic cinema. More than that, he is becoming a key figure in Hollywood visual storytelling, combining chills, faith, and fatalism all at once.
Far from ghosts and curses, The Life of Chuck explores grief, memory, and the meaning of existence. Told in reverse chronology and in three acts – the apocalypse, the dance scene, and childhood – the film draws a moving portrait of an ordinary man, Chuck Krantz, brilliantly played by Tom Hiddleston. Here, the fantastic is implicit rather than shown. Everything becomes a mental metaphor – could the end of the world and the collapse of reality be symptoms of Chuck’s brain death?
Mike Flanagan and his fascination with Stephen King
Since Gerald’s Game (2017), a project once deemed “inadaptable” until Mike Flanagan revealed its sensory power, the director has maintained a special connection with Stephen King. Doctor Sleep (2019) was a daring sequel to The Shining, balancing tribute to Kubrick with loyalty to the original novel.
With The Life of Chuck and now Carrie, one of Prime Video’s flagship projects, he is establishing himself as one of the most perceptive interpreters of Stephen King’s universe. He is able to draw out the psychological unease, family pathos, and latent terror.
The project Carrie is far from an opportunistic remake. Conceived as an ambitious mini-series, it will mark Mike Flanagan’s first collaboration with Amazon Studios through his new label, Red Room Pictures. The creator intends to move away from Brian De Palma’s model to refocus the story on generational trauma and the mechanics of humiliation. Two themes that he handles with remarkable mastery.
The series The Haunting of Hill House: a masterpiece on the struggle of grief
Released on Netflix in 2018, The Haunting of Hill House established Mike Flanagan as a master of modern-day gothic. Loosely reimagining Shirley Jackson’s novel, he created more than a horror series. He orchestrated a spectral family drama, in which each ghost symbolizes a pain, a memory, or a buried truth. The sixth episode of the show, shot in long takes, remains a high point of emotional tension.
This show laid the foundation for the so-called “Flanaverse”. That unofficial term refers to his interconnected works, all bound by a recurring cast including Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel… It was followed by The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023). All of them bear the same signature – melancholic horror, theological musings, and attention to visuals.
A cerebral and symbolic directing style
Both Doctor Sleep or The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan opts for a slow build-up of tension over jump scares. His camera glides down hallways like an invisible breath. Sets are filled with hidden figures (the famous “hidden ghosts”), and editing follows the logic of memory rather than that of chronology. In The Life of Chuck, this visual language becomes poetic even. Road signs and impromptu dances serve as emotional anchors in a dissolving world.
Mike Flanagan isn’t just a purveyor of fear. He narrates the unseen, what haunts the living: regret, loss, memory. He has never filmed monsters per se. Only people confronting the erosion of their faith, the collapse of their psyche, or the injustice of death…
A booming career and highly-anticipated projects
2024 marks a strategic turning point for Mike Flanagan. He left Netflix and Intrepid Pictures to launch his own production company, Red Room Pictures. This shift toward independence stemmed from his desire for greater creative freedom. Prime Video thus became his new home, with several projects already in the making.
These include Carrie, the brilliant horror drama mentioned earlier, as well as a trilogy of The Exorcist, co-produced with Blumhouse and scheduled for 2026. This total reboot promises a fresh start and returns to the metaphysical roots of William Friedkin’s original film. Finally, Mike Flanagan is not against the return to the Haunting universe, if the conditions are right. However, he insists on avoiding any repetition…
The Life of Chuck (2025) by Mike Flanagan, currently out in cinemas.
