Carrie (2026)

2026
Director: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Summer Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Matthew Lillard, and more.

After her father’s sudden death, sheltered teenager Carrie White, raised by her overprotective mother, enters public high school, where she faces a viral bullying scandal and discovers mysterious telekinetic powers.

Stephen King’s Carrie has terrified audiences for decades, but Mike Flanagan’s latest adaptation proves there’s still plenty of life left in this chilling story of isolation, cruelty, and revenge.

Now streaming on Prime Video, the eight-episode series offers a fresh interpretation of King’s groundbreaking novel. Rather than simply recreating the familiar story, Flanagan explores how Carrie’s tragic experiences might unfold in a world dominated by smartphones, social media, and the relentless pressures of modern teenage life.

Flanagan is certainly no stranger to psychological horror. With acclaimed productions such as The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and Stephen King adaptations Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep under his belt, he has developed a reputation for finding the emotional devastation lurking beneath supernatural terror. His approach to Carrie follows that tradition, delivering a disturbing yet surprisingly compassionate portrait of a young woman pushed beyond her breaking point.

Summer H. Howell takes on the role of Carrie White, a sheltered teenager whose life changes dramatically following her father’s death. Forced to attend public school after years of homeschooling, Carrie enters an unfamiliar world with almost no understanding of ordinary teenage experiences. Her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan), has raised her under strict religious rules, leaving Carrie completely unprepared for the challenges awaiting her.

From navigating school safety drills to experiencing her first menstrual cycle, everyday situations become frightening ordeals for a girl who has been deliberately kept ignorant of the world around her. Howell captures Carrie’s vulnerability beautifully, portraying someone who desperately wants friendship and acceptance but lacks the social skills to find either.

What makes her performance particularly effective is the humanity she brings to the character. Carrie isn’t simply a helpless victim waiting for her supernatural abilities to emerge. She’s thoughtful, curious, and eager to connect with others. Watching those qualities slowly erode under the weight of humiliation and rejection makes her eventual transformation all the more heartbreaking.

One of the adaptation’s strongest creative choices is its contemporary setting. Bullying has always been central to Carrie, but Flanagan recognizes how much more devastating public humiliation can become when nearly everyone carries a camera and cruelty can spread across the internet in seconds.

Social media becomes another weapon against Carrie, transforming what might once have been isolated incidents into spectacles with potentially endless audiences. This modernization feels disturbingly natural and gives the familiar narrative a renewed sense of urgency.

The supporting cast also adds considerable depth to the story.

Alison Thornton delivers a compelling performance as Chris Hargensen, the vindictive teenager responsible for much of Carrie’s suffering. While Chris remains capable of appalling cruelty, the series takes time to examine the instability within her own family. These additional layers don’t excuse her behavior, but they prevent her from becoming a one-dimensional antagonist.

Siena Agudong is equally impressive as Sue Snell, whose growing remorse sets her apart from the other students. Sue’s internal conflict provides an important counterbalance to the escalating hostility surrounding Carrie. Her attempts to confront her own complicity give the character an emotional complexity that makes her one of the adaptation’s most engaging figures.

However, not every creative departure works quite as successfully.

The most questionable change involves Margaret White. Samantha Sloyan brings considerable talent to the role, but this interpretation of Carrie’s mother feels noticeably more sympathetic than previous versions.

Margaret’s religious fanaticism and controlling behavior remain prominent, yet moments of tenderness and apparent understanding soften a character traditionally defined by her terrifying cruelty. While exploring her motivations adds psychological dimension, it also changes the emotional foundation of Carrie’s story.

In King’s novel and Brian De Palma’s iconic 1976 film, Carrie has virtually nowhere to turn for comfort. School is a nightmare, but home offers no refuge. Her mother’s condemnation reinforces the shame and fear that ultimately contribute to Carrie’s catastrophic unraveling.

By allowing Margaret to occasionally offer genuine support, the series diminishes some of that overwhelming isolation. It’s an understandable attempt to create a more complicated mother-daughter relationship, but it comes at the expense of one of the original story’s most powerful elements.

The series also takes liberties with its conclusion, delivering an ending that may challenge viewers expecting a faithful recreation of King’s novel. Whether those changes succeed will likely depend on how attached audiences are to the original narrative.

Nevertheless, Flanagan’s Carrie succeeds in many of the areas that matter most. Its examination of bullying, institutional indifference, religious control, and the desperate human need for belonging feels especially relevant today. The school environment is convincingly hostile, and the adults responsible for protecting Carrie repeatedly fail to recognize the severity of her suffering.

Perhaps the adaptation’s greatest achievement is its refusal to let audiences forget the frightened young woman beneath the horror. Carrie’s supernatural abilities may provide the story’s most spectacular moments, but the real tragedy lies in how many opportunities people have to show her kindness before everything falls apart.

Ultimately, Carrie is a compelling reinvention of a horror classic that balances familiar themes with contemporary anxieties. Its altered portrayal of Margaret White may frustrate longtime fans, and some narrative decisions won’t satisfy everyone. Still, strong performances, thoughtful character development, and Flanagan’s talent for emotionally charged storytelling make this version worth watching.

For viewers willing to embrace a different interpretation rather than a scene-for-scene adaptation, Prime Video’s Carrie offers a haunting reminder that sometimes the most frightening monsters aren’t supernatural at all. They’re the people who turn cruelty into entertainment—and those who stand by and allow it to happen.

Isy