As Life hit theaters in May 2017, Jake Gyllenhaal was in the middle of a career-best streak that included Prisoners, Nightcrawler, and Nocturnal Animals, while Ryan Reynolds had just given the superhero genre a foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-breaking shot in the arm with Deadpool. Throw in Golden Globe nominee Rebecca Ferguson and martial arts hero Hiroyuki Sanada, and the stacked cast alone should have guaranteed box office gold.
