Schoolteacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) notices strange things happening around the world—the Internet crashes, natural disasters abound, billboards pop up displaying the picture of an accountant named Chuck Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) with the words: Charles Krantz, 39 Great Years. Thanks, Chuck.” Marty’s ex-wife Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan) calls him up and they wonder if the end of the universe is upon them. More disasters and strange supernatural events take place. Telephone service and electricity are lost, so Marty goes to Felicia’s home so they can watch the stars disappear.
Actually, the end of the universe is all about this 39-year old man named Chuck Krantz, who is bed-ridden in a hospital, dying from a brain tumor. With him is his wife Ginny Krantz (Q-Orianka Kilcher) and his son Brian (Antonio Raul Corbo) Ginny says, “39 great years, thanks, Chuck,” as he dies. At the same time, Marty tells Felicia he loves her, and the universe vanishes.
The story continues backwards in time. Nine months earlier, Chuck is at a banking conference. As he leaves, he stumbles on a busking drummer named Taylor Franck (Taylor Gordon or The Pocket Queen) who sees Chuck and starts drumming. He begins to dance and a young woman named Janice Halliday (Annaise Basso) dances with him. Her boyfriend had just dumped her in a text. For a second, Chuck feels a headache coming on, but it goes away.
Chuck and Janice help Taylor to pack up the drum and she insists on splitting the profits. She suggests they form a travelling troop, but Chuck and Janice leave with a hug. As time goes on, Chuck has the feeling that God made the world just for that beautiful moment.
Flashing back to his childhood, Chuck loses his father and pregnant mother in a car crash. He moves in with his paternal grandparents, Albie Krantz (Mark Hamill) and Sarah (Mia Sara). Sarah teaches him to dance. Albie, drinking too much, begins to see the ghosts of people before they died in the cupola of their house. Sarah dies, collapsing in the supermarket. Chuck joins dancing class in school. A girl named Cat McCoy (Trinity Bliss) wants to pair with him. Chuck speaks of his love of dance to his grandfather, who encourages him to become an accountant instead. Chuck dances with Cat at the Fall Fling, getting cheers from everyone, including Marty, who is a teacher at the school. Cat kisses him.
Years later, Albie dies, and Chuck inherits everything, including the house. Now he has the key to the cupola and sees there an apparition of himself on his deathbed as an adult. He dismisses the vision and promises to live his life until it runs out. He says, “I am wonderful, I deserve to be wonderful, and I contain multitudes.”
The film was co-produced, edited, and directed by Mike Flanagan, based on the 2020 novella by Stephen King, and produced by King himself. It won the People’s Choice Award in 2024. It received 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, and four out of four stars on Roger Ebert’s website. Reviewers enjoyed the film’s depth, the dance choreography sequences, and its emotional impact. For a story that begins with the end of the world, it was sweet and charming.
You have to hand it to Stephen King, who excels at drama, science-fiction, horror, crime, and fantasy, or everything the silver scream is interested in. The fact that the story started with the end and ended with the beginning was not a problem, as far as I was concerned. I am astonished to discover that this is my favorite Stephen King movie. It’s charming and creepy and deep, and the dancing is wonderful.