Mike Flanagan gives Stephen King’s Carrie a modern twist

📺🩸 It’s not spooky season without a new series from horror aficionado Mike Flanagan (The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher, among others), and this time, he tackles one of life’s biggest terrors: adolescence and high school. Carrie is Flanagan’s eight-episode reimagining of Stephen King’s 1974 novel, following the 1976 film and the 2013 adaptation starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. As usual, Flanagan did not come to disappoint.

The plot: Set in the fictional town of Chamberlain, the miniseries follows Carrie White (Summer H. Howell), a sheltered teenager whose life changes after her father’s sudden death forces her to attend public high school for the first time. Raised by her domineering, deeply religious mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), Carrie finds herself thrown into an unfamiliar world of social pressures, vicious bullying, and online harassment. As she struggles to navigate her new surroundings, mysterious telekinetic powers begin to emerge, setting the stage for a bloody rampage on prom night.

What we liked: Howell and Sloyan are the beating heart of this series, delivering performances that ground its supernatural elements in deeply human emotions. Howell captures Carrie’s vulnerability and growing confidence, making it difficult not to root for her even as the story becomes increasingly disturbing. Sloyan, meanwhile, is chilling as Margaret, a religious fanatic whose suffocating grip on her daughter makes it clear that Carrie’s troubles began long before she stepped out into the world. The supporting cast also delivers on performances; Alison Thornton brings the kind of calculated cruelty to mean girl Christine that had us almost as angry and homicidal as Carrie, and Matthew Lillard also makes a triumphant return to the teen horror world as Ewen High’s principal.

The series also does a particularly good job with its costuming. Carrie’s wardrobe evolves alongside her growing independence, while the clothes worn by both mother and daughter throughout the series reflect their gradual adjustment to a world beyond the confines of their home. The pacing helps too, as the series keeps things moving quickly, with enough twists and turns to keep us hooked without relying on unnecessary gore. It also includes the appropriate trigger warnings, a welcome touch given the distressing themes at its center.

The verdict: Mike Flanagan’s modern take on Carrie really understood the assignment. Flanagan’s reimagining gives King’s horror classic a contemporary edge, bringing cyberbullying and social media cruelty into a story that remains painfully relevant. Anchored by strong performances from Howell and Sloyan, the series balances supernatural horror with an unsettling look at just how hellish high school can be.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can stream Carrie on Prime Video. Check out the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:05).