Carrie Review

Mike Flanagan has done it again – his adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel Carrie manages to hit on the key themes of the book (the horrors of high school, the pressure to fit in and the hierarchies that feel almost insurmountable, as well as the pressure to conform into the version of who our parents want us to be when we really just want to stretch our wings and become who we were meant to become). And the move to a modern setting adds in some truly horrifying elements that not even King could have predicted. Flanagan also makes the choice to flesh out the central story of Carrie’s time in high school by keeping in some elements of the novel that were cut from the famous 1976 film adaptation. This choice is a bit of a mixed bag and was the part of the story I was most ambivalent about – leading to an ending that doesn’t work the way I suspect Flanagan hoped it would.

But aside from that – which, for my money, doesn’t negate the excellence that came before the disappointing end – there’s a hell of a lot to like about Flanagan’s Carrie, starting with the spectacular performance by Summer H. Howell in the titular role. In this version of the story, Carrie and her mother, Margaret (Flanagan mainstay Samantha Sloyan, who is perfect in the role), have hidden away in their home while Ralph (Tahmoh Penikett, one of three Battlestar Galactica alums who appears in the series, much to my delight) works. When an accident on a job site leads to his death, Margaret and Carrie are discovered in the house and both are made to start acclimating to the outside world – Margaret getting a job (which she hates, naturally) and Carrie attending high school. So, this version of Carrie isn’t being locked up by a tyrannical mother. Rather, she’s an extremely sheltered young woman who doesn’t understand modern life or social structures. But she desperately wants to learn.

Carrie’s earnestness is what turns her into a character you grow to love – and Howell does an excellent job making it clear that while she might not have a cell phone or understand an active shooter drill, she’s smart, kind, and just wants to fit in. Of course, when kindness shows up in a world of artificiality and mean girls, it’s going to get torn apart. Which is precisely what happens. And yes, the infamous shower scene is present – this time with a host of phone cameras recording everything to be posted online immediately after. If you thought that sequence was harrowing in 1976, in 2026, it’s brutal to the point of taking your breath away.

Similarly, this version of Margaret isn’t as vicious as you might recall – a benefit of having eight episodes to explore the character with much more depth than has been done in the past. Yes, she’s overly religious, but she’s also taken on her husband’s views of the dangers of the outside world. Pick a conspiracy theory, they believe it. And as such, they just wanted to keep their little girl safe from a dangerous world that seeks to corrupt and destroy her. Is that too much to ask? However, unlike Carrie, when confronted with the outside for the first time in years, Margaret pushes back against it. And she pushes back against Carrie when she tries to exert her own independence. Of course, we know that while Margaret is wrong about a lot of things, she’s right to worry about Carrie’s safety at school – as the mean girls more than make clear to Carrie in fits and starts throughout the series.

Those cell phone videos? They’re only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the technological horrors Flanagan adds to the story. One of the series’ central plot points involves an anonymous Instagram account (which uses Carrie’s photo as the avatar) that turns into a Gossip Girl account of sorts – taking submissions with various scandals and posting memes that out kids, expose affairs, and generally ruin the lives of many people at the high school, students and teachers alike. It’s a great addition to the story and doesn’t feel at all out of place. After all, we are all well-aware of just how insidious social media can be and how fast a seemingly baseless rumor can turn into a full-blown scandal with no way to stop it.

Having this account at the center of the action offers a bit more insight into those mean girls.  Chris Hargensen (a very good Alison Thornton), the ringleader who is the one behind the Instagram account, is having a host of family issues, which offers a reason for some of her more horrific actions, even if the series isn’t asking us to sympathize with her. She’s certainly not about to ask for forgiveness and she’s a truly spoiled and odious individual with almost no redeeming qualities. But Flanagan and his writers have managed to write just enough additional characterization into Chris so that we understand her, even if we don’t like her. Tina Blake (Josie Totah) is a more stereotypical mean girl, the second in command to Chris. More layered and less truly evil, Totah avoids turning her into a caricature, even if she’s the most underwritten of our three popular characters. And then there’s Sue Snell (Siena Agudong, in an absolute stunner of a performance). If you know the story, you’ll remember she’s the popular girl who eventually genuinely befriends Carrie – and Flanagan has kept that piece of the story intact, for the most part. This Sue has a conscience, even if she’s on a slightly different path than previous iterations of the character.

Flanagan has made just enough changes to the story – both from the novel and from other adaptations – to keep fans guessing just where things might be going. Yes, the major story set pieces are present (the locker room shower, prom), but you get much more time with every major character, so everyone feels more complete. The teachers have lives outside of the school. We get to meet the families of every one of the major teenage characters. And there’s the entire additional arc loosely based on previously unused material from the novel that, for my money, is the weakest aspect of the story – although I won’t get too much into it so as not to spoil it. But this version of Carrie is, on the whole, excellent. The performances are top notch (several of Flanagan’s normal stable of actors make appearances, although this series has many more new faces than most of his work), the writing gets to the heart of the story while also managing to elevate the story with additional characterization, and there are some pretty solid TV special effects. It’s a great Halloween season watch.

Carrie premieres on October 7th on Prime Video. All eight episodes were provided for review.