Carrie's even more terrifying in this clever update of the horror classic! ROLAND WHITE gives the 'ambitious' adaptation four stars

Published: 23:36 BST, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 23:57 BST, 7 October 2026

Carrie (Amazon Prime Video)

Rating: Four stars 

Rating:

We're told diversity is something to be proud of, and our motto should be: be kind. In practice, people have probably never been more angry and tribal. We might pretend to celebrate our differences, but actually we much prefer people to fit in.

This is the main theme of Amazon's Carrie, about the nerdy new girl who is bullied at school. It was like watching a teenage Jacob Rees-Mogg arriving at Grange Hill for the first day of term.

The difference is that Jacob isn't telekinetic. He can't set fire to things by pointing at them, or make stuff move with just the rage and fury of the unconscious mind.

Carrie has arrived on Prime Video and is an adaption of Stephen King's 1974 novel

Carrie, Stephen King's first novel, came out in 1974. There have been a handful of adaptations, most famously the 1976 version starring Sissy Spacek.

This version, written and produced by Mike Flanagan, is perhaps the most ambitious. It takes eight episodes to tell the story, but somehow manages to keep the action moving. 

There's not much in the way of actual horror until the final episode, which is magnificently dramatic. You simply can't take your eyes off it. If you get up to put the kettle on, you'll miss yet another ingenious and horrible way of killing people.

The main plot strands of the book are there, but the script has been cleverly updated.

What the updates say about modern life is not to our credit.

Before school, Carrie (Summer H. Howell) has never been out of the house. For many years, the only book she read was The Bible.

She makes her own clothes, and arrived at school in a dress that looked as if she were auditioning for The Waltons.

What she finds is a harsh world where there are lockdown drills to prepare for an armed intruder. There are airport-style scanners and guards at the school gate.

Amazon's Carrie, is about the nerdy new girl who is bullied at school. It was like watching a teenage Jacob Rees-Mogg arriving at Grange Hill for the first day of term

And, of course, there are mobile phones. If school bullies can't actually be armed, a mobile phone is the next best thing.

In one compelling scene at the end of the first episode, Carrie's classmates film her as she has her first period (something her strict mother forgot to mention). In future episodes, the bullying only gets worse.

It's a long time since I've seen a drama with quite so many unsympathetic characters. Carrie's efforts to fit in are thwarted by class bully Christina — whose family troubles leave her angry and thwarted — and Carrie's mother, Margaret, a religious fanatic and conspiracy theorist.

At one point Margaret confronts the headteacher. 'You academics, you think parents are weak, but we're not weak,' she raged. 'We will rain down on you like God's wrath if you mistreat our babies.'

At this point, I imagine teachers across the country must have been hiding behind the sofa.