Stories about the meaning of life tend to work at cross-purposes with the job of actually living it, particularly when they pedal hard to activate the tear ducts. Mike Flanagan’s science-fiction life affirmer The Life of Chuck—adapted from a Stephen King novella—is an ambitious little film that has already earned some laurels: it was an audience favorite at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival,

Mike Flanagan’s gooey, well-acted “The Life of Chuck” stars Tom Hiddleston as an everyman with earnest life lessons to impart.