Mike Flanagan explains why he's set Carrie in the present day: "This wasn't about nostalgia"

Mike Flanagan's upcoming take on Stephen King's Carrie isn't just a trip down memory lane, the showrunner has explained.

Whilst the 1974 novel has been adapted plenty of times over the years, Flanagan's new spin on the horror is grounded in the present day and centres predominantly around the relatable experiences of being a high school student.

Speaking about why it was important to set the new series in the present, Flanagan said in a press pack for the series: "The themes we are exploring are relevant to today’s teenagers in such a profound way that wasn’t true when I was that age, much less when Stephen was, and just doing a period piece adaptation would have felt like re-reading."

He went on: "This wasn’t about nostalgia and doing something again, it was about telling a story that was vital to today; speaking to the unique experience of teens today, told through a new version of Stephen’s characters.

"Today, kids deal with a level of anxiety at school that I couldn’t have contemplated when I was growing up and the horror of being a teen today is so different from 1976, and this was a wonderful opportunity to explore that."

And it seems as though it's already paid off, with first reviews for the series praising Flanagan's spin on the story and its new focus on the modern age.

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King himself also praised the series, writing in a post on Threads: "Mike Flanagan's version of CARRIE is brilliant. What it has to say about social media is shocking and true."

The synopsis for the series, which also stars Samantha Sloyan, Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Josie Totah, Arthur Conti, Thalia Dudek, Amber Midthunder and Matthew Lillard, says: "Misfit high‑schooler Carrie White (Howell) has spent her life hidden away inside the walls of her home with her fiercely protective mother, Margaret (Sloyan).

"After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence."

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Carrie will arrive on Prime Video on 7 October. You can sign up to Amazon Prime Video for a 30-day free trial.

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Authors

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.