Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writer: Matt Parker
Based on the novel by Stephen King
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Emma Roberts, Eric Bana, Christopher Abbott, Adam Driver, Angela Bassett, Taran Killam, Michael Caine, Alice Eve, Jason Lee, Owen Teague, Jackie Earle Hayley
Plot: In Arnette, Texas, Stu Redman (Taylor Kitsch) is putting gas in his pickup truck when he notices a car driving erratically that then crashes into the gas pumps. Stu quickly bursts into action and hits the emergency shut off to the pumps before an explosion can ocur. He goes over to the crashed vehicle, where he finds the people inside the car dying. Stu looks at an ID badge the driver is wearing, showing that he works at a military base just outside of town. Arnette is quickly overrun by the military who quarantine the entire town. Stu watches as everyone else in town as everyone dies of extreme flu-like symptoms. He is then taken into custody by military forces and taken to a CDC containment center in Vermont to perform tests to see why Stu is seemingly immune to the disease.
In Ogunquit, Maine, pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith (Emma Roberts) buries her parents in the family's garden after they have succumbed to the superflu. She walks through town, and finds that the whole town has also died from the superflu. That is until she spots town delinquent Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) raiding the liquor store. He spots her and chases after her to talk to her. He tells her that before the flu killed everyone, back when they were in high school, he had a crush on her. She asks him what his plans are now that everyone's dead, and he tells her he has a plan to go to the nearest CDC facility in Stovington, Vermont, to find out what killed everyone. He asks her the same question, but she doesn't have an answer. He invites her to come along with him to Vermont.
Stu soon realizes that he is the only survivor of the superflu left at the CDC facility. He learns from one of the doctors that the army has given up coming up with a cure for the disease since Stu's blood work doesn't show any obvious reasons why he's immune. Stu realizes that now that he has outlived his usefulness to the military they will probably just kill him. Stu tries to reason with the doctor to let him go, but the doctor says he can't let anyone out of the facility. A soldier enters Stu's room, but Stu was expecting someone and quickly overpowers the soldier and takes his gun. Stu locks the soldier in the room and makes his way out of the facility.
Musician Larry Underwood (Christopher Abbott) listens to his own latest song on the radio as he shoots up heroin. After a few days shooting up in a rundown apartment in New York City, he finally heads outside and finds dead bodies all over the city. While wandering the city looking for anyone else alive, he meets a woman, Nadine Cross (Alice Eve), who tells him she's a school teacher. They seek solace with each other and become lovers, although she won't have sex with him. Nadine starts to notice that Larry routinely disappears for stretches of time. He makes several lousy excuses, but finally admits that he sneaks off to get high. She asks him what it's like, and he explains that it makes all of his worries go away for a bit. She asks to try some, and together they do heroin and pass out in Central Park.
Nick Andros (Adam Driver), a deaf and mute man, is riding his bike across the plains after encountering people dying from the superflu. He rides into the town of May, Oklahoma and stops to look for bottled water. When he walks into the local general store, he finds mannequins set up throughout the store as though they were shopping. When he exits the store, he encounters a mentally handicapped man, Tom Cullen (Taran Killam), pulling a few mannequins along the street in a wagon. Tom is really excited to see another person again and gives Nick a big hug. Nick writes out on his notepad and introduction, but Tom tells him he can't read it. Nick struggles to explain through hand gestures that he can't hear or speak, but Tom eventually understands it. Nick begins loading up his bags with food and other supplies, and Tom asks if he can come along with Nick where ever it is he's headed. Nick helps Tom pack a bag of supplies and find a bicycle to ride.
Stu dreams of a woman named Mother Abagail (Angela Bassett) who lives in a corn field in Nebraska, she warmly invites him to see her at her home. In his dream, the cornfield dries up and turns to sand in a desert. He is then approached by a man, Randall Flagg (Eric Bana), as a nuclear mushroom cloud wipes out everything. Stu then wakes up in a sweat. Stu feels compelled to now head towards Nebraska to see if Mother Abagail is real or just a figment of his imagination.
Larry also has a dream of Mother Abagail and convinces Nadine to come along with him to Nebraska. While camping one night, Larry and Nadine almost have sex, but she stops it. He gets frustrated and leaves their tent. Nadine falls asleep and has a dream where she has rough, passionate sex with Randall Flagg, who encourages her to leave Larry and come be by his side in Las Vegas. Larry ends up coming back to the tent after awhile and goes to sleep. Once Larry is asleep, Nadine sneaks out of the tent and leaves Larry behind.
While on his way to Nebraska, Stu meets retired professor Glen Bateman (Michael Caine), who has nothing better to do with his retirement and joins Stu on his trip. The two quickly encounter Frannie and Harold, who tell them that they are on their way to find answers at the CDC in Vermont. Stu tells them that nobody is left alive there, but they don't believe him. He offers to show them so they can see for themselves. When they arrive at the CDC building, Harold enters the building alone. After seeing dozens of dead bodies, some dead from gunshots, Harold runs out of the building and throws as soon as he makes it out. Harold then looks up and notices Frannie and Stu talking. Harold starts feeling angry and threatened by Stu's presence as he wants Frannie's affections all for himself. Stu tells them about his dream, and the others all reveal that they have also dreamed of Abagail and Flagg. They all decide to set off to Nebraska together.
Nick and Tom are the first survivors to reach Mother Abagail's farm in Nebraska. Abagail is excited to see them, and gives them both a big hug. She then tells them that she needs to pack up her things because God has told her that they all need to head to Boulder, Colorado, where they can rebuild society. Nick and Tom help pack up an old pickup truck on her farm while Abagail makes a sign for the others on their way to go to Boulder. When they reach Boulder, they see a group of people approaching on motorcycles. It turns out to be Stu, Frannie, Glen and Harold. When they all come together, Mother Abagail greets everyone individually and thanks them for making the journey. Excited to finally have made it, Frannie kisses Stu. Much to Stu's surprise Frannie has developed a crush on him. He kisses her back. Harold witnesses and decides to tell Frannie that he loves her, but she turns him down, telling him that she's in love with Stu. Harold storms off in a rage.
Donald Elbert (Jackie Earle Hayley) sets fire to a set of tanks at an oil depot outside of Gary, Indiana. He doesn't make it far enough away and the explosion sends him flying, burning him and rendering him unconscious. While he is knocked out, Donald dreams of Randall Flagg, who invites him to Las Vegas to work for him. Donald suddenly wakes up and starts walking towards Las Vegas in a daze.
Lloyd Henreid (Jason Lee) is a petty criminal stewing in an Arizona prison cell after the superflu has wiped out all of the other inmates as well as all of the guards. Lloyd is on the brink of starvation when he sees a rat scurry by. Lloyd dives onto the rat and is about to bite into the rodent when Randall Flagg appears outside his cell. Lloyd is sure Flagg is the devil. Flagg conjures a silver key and offers to let Lloyd out of his cell, but only if he promises to serve him as his right-hand man in the days ahead. Lloyd gives Flagg his word, and Flagg opens the cell.
By the time Larry Underwood and some other survivors make it to Boulder, they find civilization rebuilding itself in the city. The dead bodies have been removed and buried and some the survivors are alreadu working at restoring electricity to the area. At her new house, Mother Abagail reveals to Stu that she is no longer hearing the voice of God, and this greatly concerns her.
Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Randall Flagg is presiding over his own rebuilding society with Lloyd Henreid as his chief lieutenant, but one that he rules as a dictator, harshly punishing anyone who goes against his word. He has made a casino penthouse his base of operations. Nadine arrives in the city, walking as though she is in a trance up to Flagg's penthouse. There they have the same rough, passionate sex she dreamed of. Afterward, he tells her to go to Harold Lauder.
Mother Abagail tells Stu that she must leave Boulder to repair her relationship with God so that she can begin receiving his instructions clearly again. She tell Stu that she needs him to lead the survivors in Boulder in her absence. Mother Abagail then begins walking away from the town towards the wilderness. Harold Lauder walks into his house and finds a naked Nadine laying on his bed. They begin having sex, during which Harold has a vision of Randall Flagg, who tells him to construct a bomb.
Meanwhile several of the town's leaders, Stu, Nick, Glen, Larry and Frannie meet to discuss what they should do about the threat of Randall Flagg in Las Vegas. Stu comes up with the idea of sending a spy to Las Vegas to report back what is happening in Flagg's city. Nick writes out on his notepad that Tom could do it. Frannie and Larry are both hesitant about that idea since Tom could easily be tricked into revealing their own plans. Glen proposes that he could hypnotize Tom so that he wouldn't be able to reveal pertinent information to the enemy, while Nick writes that Tom is as trustworthy as they come. The group decides to attempt Glen's hypnotism idea. Glen hypnotizes Tom, giving him the instruction to ride his bicycle to Las Vegas, find out as much information as he can in a week's time and return to Boulder without being followed. They give Tom supplies and send him on his way. Nick gives Tom a big hug and tells him "Thank you" and "good luck" in sign language. Tom, under hypnosis, understands this and signs back to Nick.
While the group is sending Tom off, Harold sneaks into Nick's house where they were meeting and plants the bomb he built. The group sits back down to meet, when suddenly Nick has a vision of Mother Abagail, telling him to save the others. Nick begins pushing the others out of the house, he then jumps on top of the bomb just before it detonates, taking the brunt of the explosion and saving the lives of the others.
Harold and Nadine flee Boulder on motorcycles. They begin riding toward Las Vegas. As they ride over a pass, Harold's bike skids on an oil slick and sends him flying down into a ravine. He breaks several bones, including shattering his leg. Nadine refuses to help him and leaves him to die. Heartbroken that she would just leave him there, Harold pulls out a gun and blows his own brains out.
Mother Abagail returns to Boulder to find what remains of Nick's house still aflame. She is very weak from exposure, starvation and dehydration, and passes out in front of the burning house. Stu and Larry bring her back to her house, while Glen and Frannie follow along. Abagail explains to them that God did not spare them from the plague and bring them together to start rebuilding society. God brought them together so that they can confront Flagg. She states that God wants the three men (Stu, Glen and Larry) to go west immediately on foot without food or water. Those who survive will be brought before Flagg. She tells them that she cannot guarantee they will survive or beat Flagg, but assures them that it is God's will that these things be done. At sunrise, Mother Abagail dies.
Resigned, the three men feel they have little choice but to fulfill Abagail's final instructions. Stu kisses a very pregnant Frannie goodbye. He tells her he hopes to be back by the time the baby is born since he has a hunch it will be a boy. He then asks what she will name the baby if it's a boy, and she tells him Peter, after her father. Stu tells her he likes the name and kisses her one more time before walking off down the highway with Larry and Glen.
Along the way, Stu falls and breaks his leg. He urges the others to go on without, telling them that God will provide for him if he sees fit. Glen gives Stu the Oxycontin he takes for his back pain. He suggests Stu take a lethal dose of them if it becomes apparent that there is no hope of rescue in sight. Larry and Glen continue on down the road to Las Vegas. Once they get to the Nevada state line, they are taken prisoner by some of Flagg's men. When they are brought to Las Vegas, they are greeted by Lloyd. He offers to let Glen go if he will kneel and beg Flagg to spare his life. Glen refuses, so Lloyd shoots Glen in the head on Flagg's direct order.
Randall Flagg demands that all the residents of his city report to the street in front of his casino to witness the execution of Larry. Lloyd prepares a noose for Larry to hang from at a makeshift gallows. As Flagg prepares to execute Larry, Donald Elbert rides into the crowd with a nuclear warhead in the back of a pickup truck. Suddenly, a giant glowing, spectral hand, the proverbial Hand of God, appears and detonates the bomb, destroying the entire city and everyone in it.
Stu sees the mushroom cloud from the blast off in the distance. He prepares to take a lethal dose of Glen's pills when suddenly Tom Cullen appears. Stu asks how Tom found him, and Tom tells him that Nick showed him the way in a dream. Tom helps bring Stu back to Boulder. When they arrive, they find that Frannie has just given birth to her baby, a boy named Peter. The baby however is born with the superflu. Stu and Frannie wait up with the baby, and on the third day, the flu passes, and baby Peter survives. Stu and Frannie vow to do what they can to make the world a better place for Peter to grow up in.
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