Carrie gives chills and thrills
The image of a young Sissy Spacek covered in pig’s blood from the 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie is instantly iconic. It’s a stark reminder of how cinema handles literary masterpieces, and often, the results are far from perfect.
Film adaptations can be brilliant, like King’s The Shawshank Redemption, or deeply flawed, like Lawnmower Man. Even sprawling epics like Harry Potter suffer from this limitation: how much of a complex novel can be squeezed into a feature film while keeping the audience truly engaged?
The answer often lies in the format. Long-form television adaptations, however, have significantly more space to breathe and explore the narrative depth required. This is where creators can truly let a story unfold without sacrificing tension or character development.
Director Mike Flanagan has mastered this approach. His Netflix adaptations, including The Haunting of Hill House and his recent work on the Carrie story, demonstrate how potent television can be. His work with the Carrie narrative, such as his new eight-episode series on Amazon Prime, is uniformly excellent and rivals major studio productions in quality.
Flanagan’s approach brings a fresh lens to the source material. While taking liberties with the 52-year-old original, he successfully maintains the essential emotional beats. The central conflict remains intact: the good guys are still the good guys, the bad guys are still the bad guys, and the adults are still delightfully, albeit sometimes hapless, human beings.
The characters are the anchors of this success. Summer H. Howell, in the title role, evolves from a shy, naive basement-dweller into a powerful force of nature, maintaining an innocence that keeps the audience rooting for her until the very end. Alison Thornton’s portrayal of Christine Hargensen is equally masterful, expertly eliciting both hatred and pity from the viewer.
The supporting cast is equally stellar. Josie Totah, Siena Agudong, and Joel Oulette round out the ensemble of teenagers with top-tier performances. Adding layers to the dynamic is Samantha Sloyan, who plays Carrie’s mother, Margaret—a complex, one-note Christian fundamentalist who oscillates between inspiring and infuriating.
The narrative choices, including some of the more provocative dialogue and characterizations, push boundaries. There is a noticeable presence of themes often labeled as Wokeness, but the series remains firmly apolitical. While the story involves elements of LGBTQ+ relationships and features a transgender performer as a main supporting character, these details serve the narrative without overshadowing the core drama.
Ultimately, the adaptation succeeds not just through its scares, but through its nuanced characters. Whether one looks at the thrilling, unsettling nature of the story, or the subtle shifts in its ending, the 2026 adaptation of Carrie offers an excellent viewing experience that easily fills a weekend or bedtime.
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