Based on Stephen King’s debut novel and adapted for TV by horror expert Mike Flanagan, Prime Video’s “Carrie” is a fascinating re-imagining of the oft-told story. Set in the present day, the series pays homage to King’s writings and Brian De Palma’s acclaimed 1976 film that made Sissy Spacek a star. This series follows Carrie White (a stellar Summer H. Howell), who has spent her entire existence under the stifling rule of her doomsday-preparing father Ralph (Tahmoh Penikett) and her ultra-religious mother Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). After her father’s death, Carrie’s world begins to crumble and she moves away from her cozy home for the first time to attend high school. Although surprisingly clueless about the most basic matters, Carrie is eager, open, and curious. However, he soon learns that society enjoys destroying purity and innocence. Flanagan’s “Carrie” puts its own stamp on King’s narrative as it examines the vagaries of the social media age.
The audience meets the meek and childish Carrie on her first day of school. While senior Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) is mostly kind to the petite sophomore, Sue’s best friend Christine Hargensen (Alison Thornton) displays such disdain for Carrie that it’s clear this won’t be a good experience for the young girl. By the end of her second day, she was thoroughly terrified by an active shooter drill and her own menstrual cycle; Both came as a surprise. Although Carrie tries to embrace the school, her suffering continues at the hands of Christine, who begins creating a gossipy Instagram account called “Carrie Red” in which she belittles Carrie and many others on campus, including students, teachers, and administration. Increasingly hostile to the “Carrie Red” storyline and her mother’s religiosity, which is disgusting but comes from a more loving place than Piper Laurie’s horrific cruelty, Carrie lashes out in unimaginable ways. It all comes to a head at the ball and he finds himself covered in a bucket of pigs’ blood.
Subsequent adaptations of “Carrie” after De Palma’s film paled in comparison. But while this series captures the ingredients that made the original so timeless, it also allows the main character to transcend her small town and connect with other young women with special talents around the world. Throughout the eight-episode first season, the series also paints a portrait of contemporary America filled with technology, religious bigotry, and brutality.
Harrowing and unflinching, “Carrie” builds on the core elements of King’s story and connects it to a larger universe. In a country built on violence, it is no surprise that barbarism has seeped into our most impressionable peoples. This Carrie, despite all she has endured, is not a victim of her circumstances; his knowledge and desire to discover his abilities allow him to escape the same fate that befell Spacek’s character. Instead, Flanagan lets him use his pain to become bulletproof.
This version of “Carrie” returns agency to the young women at the center of the story. Carrie fights to achieve the life she desperately desires. Sue must decide if she can afford to lose her best friend to stand up for what’s right. In the end, Christine vacillates between her own humanity and the ruthless heartlessness she wears like a cloak of armor. “Carrie” reminds viewers that power and talent do not always appear as expected, and that power comes with a high price, no matter who wields it.
All eight episodes of “Carrie” will premiere on Prime Video on October 7.