Mike Flanagan’s 'Carrie' Is a Riveting Remix and Risky Expansion of Stephen King’s Classic Novel | Review

Published Oct 1, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Nate Richard is a Resource Editor for Collider, a film and television critic, and a part-time amateur filmmaker. He graduated from Ball State University in December 2020 with a Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications. 

Nate has been with Collider since August 2021 and became a Resource Editor in March 2022. With Collider, Nate has interviewed some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Robert De Niro, Michael Fassbender, Steven Yeun, and J.K. Simmons.

Nate has also covered several film festivals, both in-person and digitally, including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF), and South by Southwest (SXSW).

He's also an avid runner and is very proud of his dogs Hazel, Rex, and Turbo. He currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Stephen King adaptations are notoriously hit or miss. For every The Shining or The Shawshank Redemption, there's The Dark Tower or either of the two miniseries based on The Stand. Brian De Palma's Carrie, however, still stands among the greatest, turning King's debut novel into a tragic and memorable coming-of-age horror movie led by two unforgettable performances from Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.

Numerous attempts have been made to revive Carrie, including the 1999 sequel The Rage: Carrie 2, a 2002 television movie, and a 2013 remake starring Chloë Grace Moretz. To paraphrase another King work, would keeping Carrie White "dead" be "better"? In 2026, however, genre auteur Mike Flanagan, who already has experience bringing King's stories to the screen, has taken on the challenge of updating Carrie for modern times, turning one of King's shortest novels into an eight-episode series. It's a tall task, and would be a terrible idea in the hands of almost any other writer — but with his latest series for Prime Video, Flanagan has created a new take on Carrie White that, while imperfect, is highly addictive.

Mike Flanagan's 'Carrie' Is More of a Remix Than a Retelling

Fully aware that you already know King's story, Flanagan's Carrie begins with a series of interviews with students, teachers, and town locals recalling the tragic events of Ewen High School's prom night before jumping back in time. The deviations from the original novel and De Palma's film begin right away, as Carrie's father, Ralph White (Tahmoh Penikett), dies in a terrible workplace accident. He'd had a reputation among his coworkers for being notoriously antisocial — to the point of even keeping his home life a secret, including the existence of his wife and teenage daughter, Carrie (Summer H. Howell).

Carrie and her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan), are discovered by social workers who send the isolated teenager to school for the first time while helping Margaret get a job at a local grocery store. While the series maintains Margaret's religious fundamentalism and how it's forced upon Carrie, other versions of the story never revolved around Carrie attending high school as "the new girl." The transition is rough, as Carrie's upbringing and lack of interaction with kids her own age make her intensely socially awkward. Her naivety also makes her the target of popular girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), despite her best friend, Sue Snell (Siena Agudong), begging her to leave Carrie alone.

Carrie only becomes the object of greater ridicule after experiencing her first period in the girls' locker room, and her gym teacher, Rita Desjardin (Amber Midthunder), expresses her concerns to the school's administration. Instead of taking action, Principal Henry Grayle (Matthew Lillard) tells Miss Desjardin that his hands are tied unless Carrie comes to him herself. In the aftermath, Chris only continues to torment Carrie further by creating an anonymous Instagram account to post gossip about her fellow students. Meanwhile, Carrie discovers that it isn't just her upbringing that has made her less ordinary. She's also a telepath, and there's only so much torment she can take before she snaps.

Summer H. Howell and Samantha Sloyan are Perfectly Cast in 'Carrie'

Image via Prime Video

In Carrie, Summer H. Howell never tries to recreate what Spacek did so brilliantly in De Palma's original film, which makes her performance stand out all the more. Her take on Carrie White is even quieter, and her guileless mannerisms render her an even more innocent protagonist. It's easy to have empathy for Howell's Carrie as a young woman becoming consumed by the depravity of everyone around her, both at home and in school. Howell also earns moments to show the darker sides of her character, so when Carrie's change comes, it isn't abrupt.

Carrie's biggest standout, however, is Samantha Sloyan (a frequent collaborator of Flanagan's) as Margaret White, a character that is given far more depth than previous incarnations of the story. Sloyan's Margaret is still a fanatic, but her role is significantly more than just about the abuse she displays towards her own daughter. The series gives her a fuller arc that reveals how she interacts with people beyond just Carrie, as well as how she reacts to the changing times after having been trapped inside her home for so long. Sloyan has a deep understanding of the character, which shows every time she is on-screen. There are more layers to her than what meets the eye.

Mike Flanagan 'Carrie' Remains Loyal to King's Work, With Some Dramatic Changes

Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King, having already helmed adaptations such as Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck. He's also created series that revolve around young adults, evidenced in the highly underrated The Midnight Club. While Flanagan taking on one of King's most iconic works isn't unusual, his version of Carrie has a completely different execution than previous horror fare like The Haunting of Hill House or Midnight Mass. It's less of a slow-burn than his other works but still maintains his exploration of existentialist and spiritual themes.

The ending of King's novel reveals that Carrie isn't the only female telepath in existence, something that Flanagan's series leans into from the jump — even depicting real-life figures, such as Joan of Arc and Angela Cavallo (who lifted a 3,700-lb car to save her son's life), as telepaths themselves. It's a creative choice that doesn't fully work, stripping away some of the story's supernatural mystique. Other changes work in the series' favor, including the presence of social media, as Margaret White becomes a crusader against the anonymous Instagram account made in her daughter's name. Bullying in schools is just as much of an issue as it was when Carrie was first written, and Flanagan's series cleverly updates that element for the modern era. It's also one of the areas in which Lillard shines as Principal Grayle, with the character ultimately becoming complicit in enabling the bullying whether he wants to admit it or not. It's a creative choice that seems like something King himself would have made if he were writing Carrie today.

It's harder to delve into some of Carrie's biggest changes without revealing too much, but Flanagan has recently stated that he has two more seasons planned for his adaptation. To that effect, several choices made in the back half transform the story from an inevitable tragedy into a launching point for a larger mythology. While there are ways to expand Carrie, the direction the Prime Video series seems to be heading in by the finale isn't nearly as interesting or fresh. Amidst those changes, all roads lead to that dreaded Prom Night, and while many viewers will already know the story, Flanagan finds creative ways to keep you invested. You aren't just waiting for crucial moments from the source material to show up; you're eager to see how said moments have been transformed.

Flanagan has always been a master at creating empathy in all of his works, which is why his take on Carrie works as well as it does. When the project was first announced, it was easy to balk at the thought of adapting such a short book into an eight-episode series — yet this shift into a longer format allows Flanagan to redefine King's story in his own way. Not every deviation works, and the series becomes less interesting whenever it dives too deeply into larger worldbuilding, but it's definitely worth a watch for those who hold the novel near and dear to their hearts. Clearly, Flanagan loves Carrie White just as much as everybody else.

All eight episodes of Carrie will be available to stream October 8 on Prime Video.

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  Summer H. Howell

  Carrie White

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  Matthew Lillard

  Principal Grayle

Pros & Cons

• Summer H. Howell and Samantha Sloyan are phenomenal as Carrie and Margaret White.
• The social media subplot gives Carrie's story an extra layer of relevancy.
• The 8-episode structure brings greater depth to certain characters and storylines.

• Certain plot choices at the end of the series feel at odds with the core of what made the original novel so special.
• The greater worldbuilding isn't all that interesting and doesn't add much to the story.