Never before had a movie been so hyped well before its release as The Life of Chuck. It all started back in September last year when it had a limited premiere attended by King, Mike Flanagan, Mark Hamill and others. Everyone agreed it was a great movie and that all of us King fans would love it. People compared it to Stand By Me, The Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemption—even calling it an Oscar contender.

Then came the trailer and, to be honest, it was a bit confusing. If you hadn’t read the novel, it was hard to understand what the movie was actually about. And I started to worry. I started to feel like maybe the movie wasn’t as good as everyone had said. Maybe it was a mediocre movie, but no one wanted to be the one to say, “Hey, this movie isn’t as good as you all said.”

With those thoughts, I got a chance to see the movie about a month before its premiere—and now that I have seen it, I can tell you: yes, the movie is as good as everyone says. The characters are great, the story is just as strong as the novel (which I really like), and it’s all brought together in a compelling way.

My only worry is that some people might not appreciate the film if they don’t give it enough time to unfold and explain what’s actually going on. In the beginning, it’s not entirely clear what’s happening. Personally, I think that’s one of the movie’s strengths. But I know some readers didn’t like that aspect in the novel, and they might not appreciate it here either. You do need to give the film its time to tell the story.

The story we’re told is the life of Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz—but it’s told in an unusual way. When we enter the story, people are beginning to notice that the world is falling apart. The internet isn’t working. Sinkholes are appearing. There’s a constant sense of doom. One thing everyone notices is that someone is putting a lot of effort into thanking Chuck for his 39 great years. No one knows who is thanking him or why—or even who Chuck is. They speculate that he is retiring, even though he doesn’t look a day over 30. And they’re not exactly wrong… but not quite right either. I won’t say more, because I believe this is a movie that needs to be experienced, not explained—if you know what I mean.

Tom Hiddleston, who plays Chuck Krantz, is the face of the movie and has the main role, including one very spectacular scene. But he’s less present in the film than I expected. We actually see more of Jacob Tremblay and Benjamin Pajak as the young Chuck. They both do a fantastic job, so it’s not a problem at all—just surprising that they get more screen time than Tom.

We also see actors like Mark Hamill, Carla Gugino, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Siegel, and even a small cameo by Mike Flanagan himself. They all do a great job.

I’m so happy this turned out to be one of the really good movies—and that all the early buzz was true. Please make sure you go and see this one. You won’t regret it.