El calendario cósmico y el poema “Song of Myself” de Walt Whitman se combinan de manera inesperada en La vida de Chuck, el nuevo proyecto del cineasta Mike Flanagan basado en la prolífica obra de Stephen King.

Como lo plantea la premisa científica, nuestras vidas son apenas destellos imperceptibles dentro de la vasta línea temporal del universo. Sin embargo, el poema de Whitman sugiere que cada mente alberga un mundo propio, poblado por las personas, los recuerdos y las cicatrices que reunimos a lo largo de nuestra existencia finita. ¿Qué somos si no la suma de nuestras experiencias y nuestra imaginación?

Adaptada por Flanagan a partir de la novela corta publicada por King en 2020, esta reflexión sobre la belleza agridulce de la condición humana se muestra emotiva en su enfoque y precisa en su propósito. Flanagan invita al público a pensar en esos momentos de conexión que resultan significativos y en las pequeñas alegrías que le dan sentido a la vida.

Sin recurrir a lo sentimental, pero sí con un trasfondo sincero, La vida de Chuck alcanza una profundidad vital a partir de una combinación de elementos surrealistas y verdades humanistas. Esta película obtuvo el premio del público en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto el pasado otoño.

Tom Hiddleston interpreta a Charles Krantz, un contador moribundo con una pasión dormida por el baile, aunque no se lo conoce realmente hasta la mitad de las tres “actos” que se despliegan en orden cronológico inverso. Sin embargo, en “Gracias, Chuck”, la primera parte, se observan destellos enigmáticos del personaje mientras se plantea un enigma que se resuelve con el tiempo. Incluso cuando el narrador interpretado por Nick Offerman pregunta en cierto momento “¿Las respuestas harían mejor algo bueno?”, la película no deja demasiados cabos sueltos.

En el primer acto se muestra un escenario de desastre ambiental. Internet, inestable desde hacía meses, parece haber desaparecido definitivamente. Incendios arrasan el Medio Oeste, inundaciones hunden Florida, terremotos sacuden California y un volcán habría entrado en erupción en Alemania.

Mientras tanto, el contador interpretado por Hiddleston aparece en carteles y transmisiones con el mismo mensaje: “¡Charles Krantz: 39 grandes años! ¡Gracias, Chuck!”. Nadie parece reconocerlo ni entender la razón del homenaje. Un funerario carismático (Carl Lumbly) comenta que es el “Oz del apocalipsis”.

Chiwetel Ejiofor encabeza este segmento inicial como un maestro retraído que vuelve a conectar con su exesposa (Karen Gillan), una enfermera en un hospital tan saturado que el personal se autodenomina “Escuadrón Suicida”. Ejiofor y Gillan logran transmitir la carga emocional de esta travesía mientras la música de Newton Brothers acompaña la narración y Flanagan recurre a imágenes fugaces de fantasía.

El segundo acto, “Buskers Forever”, ambientado nueve meses atrás, presenta a Chuck como un hombre amable con esposa e hijo adolescente y un tumor cerebral no detectado. Cuando Chuck pasa junto a un baterista callejero (Taylor Gordon), se despierta en él el deseo de bailar. Al invitar a participar a una transeúnte recién separada (Annalise Basso), el protagonista se entrega al ritmo en una explosión de alegría por vivir.

El modo en que este desvío vital regresa a la desesperanza existencial del comienzo constituye un trayecto abordado en un acto final que conviene no revelar. Centrado en un Chuck más joven —interpretado por Benjamin Pajak a los 10 años y Jacob Tremblay en la adolescencia—, “I Contain Multitudes” aborda el amor, el duelo y el toque sobrenatural, con participaciones destacadas de Mia Sara y un Mark Hamill irreconocible como sus abuelos. A lo largo del film, referencias y conexiones conducen hacia el núcleo emocional de la historia.

Si bien Flanagan es reconocido por explorar el lado oscuro de King —en las adaptaciones de Gerald’s Game y Doctor Sleep, y en una próxima serie basada en Carrie—, La vida de Chuck marca un claro cambio de registro. Al entregar una elegía en la línea de Stand By Me o The Shawshank Redemption, Flanagan demuestra su sintonía con el universo de King en todas sus facetas.

Fuente: The Washington Post

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian migrant whose months-long court fight has emerged as a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, will report Monday to the ICE Field Office in Baltimore, where he is expected to be arrested and deported to Uganda, his attorneys told Fox News Digital.

The news caps an extraordinary, six-month court battle over Abrego Garcia’s legal status that has spanned two continents, touched off dozens of lengthy court hearings, and involved three federal judges in Tennessee and Maryland.

The Department of Justice has said Abrego Garcia is a member of the El Salvadoran gang MS-13, was caught in Tennessee allegedly driving a van full of illegal migrants, and has been accused by his wife of beating her. His supporters have painted him as a hard-working father who has been vilified by the Trump administration, and have pointed to a judge’s ruling that said the government failed to provide sufficient evidence that he is a member of MS-13.

Now, Abrego Garcia is slated for deportation to a third country, after an immigration judge ruled he could not be sent back to his homeland because he faced danger there.

The latest development in Abrego Garcia’s saga comes days after the Justice Department offered to send him to Costa Rica on Thursday, in exchange for a guilty plea to criminal charges of human smuggling, brought against him while he was still detained in Salvadorian custody earlier this year.

Abrego Garcia declined the offer.

ABREGO GARCIA RELEASED FROM JAIL, WILL RETURN TO MARYLAND TO AWAIT TRIAL

His attorneys used the spurned offer to bolster their motion to dismiss the criminal case against him on the grounds of «vindictive» and selective prosecution by the Trump administration.

They said the plea deal offer shows that the Trump administration had embarked on a pressure campaign against their client, and one in which several government agencies— the Justice Department, ICE, and DHS— were «using their collective powers to force» their client to choose between the plea and Costa Rica, or not accepting the offer, and what they termed the «rendition to Uganda.» 

«In conjunction with that proposal, the government produced a letter to Mr. Abrego’s counsel confirming that he could live freely in that country, which would accept him as a refugee or grant him residency status, and promise not to refoul him to El Salvador,» his attorneys said in a court filing on Saturday. 

It was not until after he rejected that offer, they said, that the government «informed Mr. Abrego that he has until first thing Monday morning — precisely when he must report to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office — to accept a plea in exchange for deportation to Costa Rica, or else that offer will be off the table forever.»

JUDGE PRESSES TRUMP DOJ ON ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION; ANSWERS LEAVE COURTROOM IN STUNNED SILENCE

A side-by-side image of President Donald Trump and protesters holding signs in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian migrant who was deported to El Salvador in March, in what Trump officials acknowledged was an «administrative error.» (Photos by Getty Images) (Getty Images )

The plans were detailed in several documents, including the official notice sent Friday to Abrego Garcia’s attorneys by ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Adviser (OPLA), and in the Saturday court filing from his attorneys.

Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally when he was a teenager, and lived in Maryland with his wife and children, prior to his removal to El Salvador in March. His family sued, saying his deportation to El Salvador violated a 2019 court order blocking him from being sent back to his home country.

After months of legal wrangling, the Trump administration in May returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S., where he was slapped with charges of human smuggling; an investigation that originated from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee and which began in April. 

ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS FILE MOTION TO DISMISS CRIMINAL CHARGES FROM TRUMP DOJ

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks, after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. (Reuters)

Should ICE immediately arrest Abrego Garcia, their actions would likely defy a court order handed down by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, which sought to preclude ICE from immediately arresting Abrego Garcia upon return.

Fox News reported Friday that DHS and ICE officials, frustrated with Abrego Grcia’s release, had been consulting with the Justice Department and ICE’s lawyers about how to go about removing him from the U.S.

Lawyers for the Justice Department vehemently opposed Abrego Garcia’s release from custody, arguing at an evidentiary hearing earlier this year that he was a danger to the community and describing him as a member of MS-13 — a claim that was rejected by a judge in a ruling earlier this year.

Even so, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Abrego Garcia’s release from criminal custody on Friday, saying in a statement that the Trump administration «will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country.»

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Prior to Abrego Garcia’s arrival at the ICE facility in Baltimore Monday, CASA, an immigrant advocacy group, is holding an early-morning candlelight vigil outside the detention center in Baltimore to show their support for Abrego Garcia and his family. 

 «Kilmar is being made an example of, a martyr for having the courage to stand up to this administration’s illegal deportation practices,» Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, CASA’s Chief of Organizing and Leadership, said in a statement.

Russian officials said Ukrainian drones ignited an overnight fire at a nuclear plant in Russia’s Kursk region.

The strikes coincided with Ukraine’s 34th Independence Day, marking its 1991 break from the Soviet Union.

Russia said the strikes hit several power facilities. The plant fire was quickly extinguished. A transformer was damaged, but radiation levels remained normal, and no injuries were reported.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it was aware of media reports of a transformer fire «due to military activity,» but had not independently confirmed them.

RUSSIAN DRONE CRASHES IN POLISH FIELD AS WARSAW PROTESTS AIRSPACE VIOLATION AND PLANS FORMAL COMPLAINT

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said «every nuclear facility must be protected at all times.»

A fire also broke out at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad region, home to a major fuel export terminal.

The regional governor said about 10 Ukrainian drones were shot down in the area and that debris sparked the blaze.

BATTLE OVER THE BLACK SEA: RUSSIA, UKRAINE STRIKE TOP RESORT CITIES

Ukrainian servicemen of the 44th artillery brigade fire a Bohdana self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 95 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory Sunday.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 72 drones and decoys and a cruise missile overnight; 48 drones were shot down or jammed.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke in a video from Kyiv’s Independence Square.

NATO JETS SCRAMBLED AMID RUSSIA’S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 13, 2025.  (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

«We are building a Ukraine that will have enough strength and power to live in security and peace,» he said, calling for a «just peace.»

«What our future will be is up to us alone,» he said, while acknowledging the U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska earlier this month, which many worried would sideline Ukrainian interests.

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«And the world knows this. And the world respects this. It respects Ukraine. It perceives Ukraine as an equal,» he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.