Amber Heard's femme fatale breathes life into pulpy pandemic story The Stand

After the circus of the Johnny Depp libel trial, Amber Heard returns to the day job with a starring role in an enjoyably pulpy, if sometimes muddled, adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. Heard, whose 2017 divorce from Depp has been fodder for the tabloids, puts in a winningly villainous turn as a wicked temptress allied with the forces of darkness in a post-apocalyptic America.

King published The Stand in 1978, explaining he wanted to a set a Lord of the Rings style good v evil epic in 20th-century America. But it’s the contemporary resonances of this star-packed, nine-part retelling that land the hardest, as a lethal virus wipes out 99 per cent of mankind in just a few days.

The infection is nicknamed “Captain Trips” and as it sweeps the globe it becomes clear that washing your hands and working from home are of little avail. Alas, director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars; The New Mutants) and show-runner Benjamin Cavell muddle this straightforward story by jumping back and forth between timelines. Such an approach detracts from the clean thrust of King’s tale, adding complications where none are required.

Captain Trips has soon reduced society to a dystopian nightmare. However, a tiny percentage of the population is immune and sets about rebuilding civilisation. Among them are wholesome (if slightly dim) everyman Stu Redman (James Marsden), sweet and innocent Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young) and struggling rock star Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo). Heather Graham also pops up in a small part as Larry’s girlfriend.

Not all the survivors are on the side of the angels. Frannie’s creepily obsessive neighbour Harold (Owen Teague) is driven to the dark side by jealousy over her blossoming romance with Stu. There to meet him is Nadine Cross (Heard), a femme fatale plagued with visions of a Devilish figure named “Randall Flagg”.

Flagg is King’s attempt at creating an All-American Satan (with tinges of HP Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones). He favours head-to-toe denim, converses in a languid drawl, and enjoys old school rock 'n' roll. He’s essentially Thanos from the Marvel movies if he had Billy Ray Cyrus’s hair and if his favourite thing in the universe was Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Unfortunately, Alexander Skarsgård doesn’t quite capture Flagg’s menace and charisma. In particular, we never believe that this is someone for whom Heard’s Cross would kill. Or that she would seduce the gormless Harold in order to recruit him to Flagg’s cause.

If Flagg is the most wicked mullet in the West, the embodiment of good is Abagail Freemantle (Whoopi Goldberg). She’s a seemingly kindly old lady who haunts the dreams of the “chosen” survivors – Stu, Frannie, Larry and a handful of others – and bids them travel to Colorado and make their home there.

Their journey into the American heartland and their subsequent betrayal by Cross (who initially presents herself as just another survivor) is proficiently told, all that time-hopping notwithstanding.

But The Stand, produced by CBS All Access, never rises above a slightly dreary competence. It certainly lacks the Hollywood gleam of the very best American television. In fact, the series only truly comes alive when Heard is allowed cut loose.

UK viewers can stream the series on StarzPlay from Sunday 3 January 2021