Mike Flanagan brings us another adaptation of
a Stephen King story, but is it worth your time?

For many years, Stephen King has brought us his wild, scary and heartfelt stories and they have been loved the whole world over. Many of his works have received not one, but several treatments over the years. Carrie is one of those examples. While many will remember the original Carrie starring Sissy Spacek and possibly the inferior 2013 remake starring Chloe Grace Moretz as the titular character, visionary director and writer Mike Flanagan brings us his version, and with some major changes!

Set over 8 episodes, Carrie explores the volatile world of teenage angst in America, and it’s here that changes are most apparent to the original story. And while I will state from the off that this is very, very loosely based on the book, it does bring with it a fresh take on the source material, so much so, it becomes almost a whole new story. Considering that Flanagan sought King’s permission to make those changes, and King even added an extra character himself (the Emaline West character), King clearly approved of the vision presented to him. And it’s easy to see why when you watch this behemoth of a show.

With mobile technology, Social Media, Cancel Culture and Doxing now playing a major part of the story, you can see how and why the story heads to it’s ultimate conclusion. Yet even the conclusion you may be familiar with changes drastically, as does the eventual ending of Carries mother’s story which again, is very, very different from the original book. It’s these massive changes that bring a fresh new look at an old story, and breathes new life into it’s premise. But (and yes, there’s a ‘but’ here), the relevance of it’s themes may be unrelatable to those who fondly remember the original. Yes, teenage pier pressure mixed with innocence and ultimately revenge is on full display, but the more modern themes may be a source of annoyance for some.

For me, this was an entirely refreshing take on this old story, and it brings with it new characters who you can invest in, and you may even feel guilty for having done so!

Summer H Howell stars as a Carrie, a relative newcomer with only a few acting credits under her belt, and I was very surprised to learn she is 22 years old, because she looks like she’s only 16 or 17 years old! I will say, Howell plays Carrie perfectly, and her casting was a stroke of genius. Many stars make appearances here, some with just a few lines, and it surprised me to see at least five cast members of Battlestar Galactica (the remake) make appearances. Maybe Flanagan loved the show?
Samantha Sloyen plays Carries mother Margret, and just like in Flanagan’s Midnight Mass, she absolutely nails the part. In fact, every player in this show absolutely brings their A game to it.

The effects are great, with maybe a few exceptions where you can clearly tell it’s CGI, but this does not in any way detract from the experience presented to you. To be honest, the amount of effects used are sparce up until the end, and it’s here where all the hard work shows.

What this retelling and updated story ultimately brings us is the possibility of a wider Stephen King universe, with the gifts displayed by Carrie and others being called “The Shine”, and if you have watched The Shining and/or Doctor Sleep (which was directed by Flanagan) then you’ll know the implications this brings, with potential crossovers happening. Given that Stephen King intentionally writes all of his stories with connections to almost all other stories, it’s not surprising this will be the direction the writers will go in. And I for one, cannot wait to see where this story will go from here.

I cannot recommend this enough. It’s the strongest TV show I’ve seen this year and you’ll have a blast watching it!

You know what’s coming, I give Carrie…

Thanks for reading this review! have you seen Carrie yet, and if so, did your thoughts align with mine? Did you hate it, or do you have any questions about it? Whatever it is you would like to say, let us know in the comments section below. Give this a ‘Like’ if you found it useful, and please do look over the many reviews we have here on the site.

Until the next review…stop thinking those bad thoughts, you’ll never what might happen as a result!

Carrie is available on Amazon Prime, and all eight episodes available to watch.