Carrie First Reaction: Mike Flanagan Gives New Life To Stephen King’s Classic Horror Story [TIFF]

Mike Flanagan’s Carrie brings Stephen King’s horror story into the modern era, tackling social media and school violence with surprising depth. Published Sep 19, 2026, 4:37 PM EDT Josh is a film critic and journalist with over nine years of experience in the entertainment industry. Entering the field at just 17 years old, Josh went on to make his own website, The HoloFiles, and social media brand Star Wars Holocron, the most followed Star Wars fan account on Twitter/X. A member of both the Chicago Indie Critics and the Hollywood Critics Alliance, Josh has covered major industry events including Star Wars Celebration and, most recently, CinemaCon for ScreenRant. His work has appeared in outlets such as Game Rant and Comic Book Resources (CBR), and he has been featured in publications including the BBC and The New York Times. Hardcore Stephen King fans were understandably skeptical when it was announced that Mike Flanagan would be developing yet another adaptation of the 1974 novel Carrie. After all, just two years later, in 1976, Brian De Palma directed the very first Carrie adaptation, which went down as one of the very best horror films of the decade. Combating that pessimism is the track record of Mike Flanagan, who has made a name for himself as one of the most capable horror filmmakers working today, with titles like The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and The Life of Chuck. Yet, it’s still fair to wonder why Flanagan would opt for Carrie, a story that audiences know so well, as his next project. Thankfully for Stephen King fans, Flanagan justifies the return to this world, not through remaking the story that’s already been told, but by exploring themes of isolation, adolescence, family trauma, and the increasingly complicated world teenagers are thrust into. Making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival with a screening of its first two episodes, Carrie quickly proves that viewers are in for a treat. Howell Gives An Excellent Performance As Carrie Taking on the titular role is Summer H. Howell, portraying Carrie as a teenager sheltered from much of the outside world by her mother. Fans of the original film will remember the basic premise: Carrie’s father dies, and she and her mother are forced to navigate the environments they had avoided for years. This includes public school, as Carrie is required to attend high school, forcing her into a place where she suddenly has to navigate friendships, social expectations, the cruelty of other kids, and the confusing (and ever-evolving) pressures of adolescence. Playing a character like Carrie is far from easy. After all, it’s a role that several other actors have taken on over the years, which greatly increases the pressure on young Howell. She’s not only tasked with playing the classic version of Carrie audiences all know and love, but also with bringing something new and original to the character, all while not making it too familiar. That’s a delicate balance, but one that Howell gets perfectly. She portrays Carrie as a deeply vulnerable, impressionable child, and one who feels different from previous versions, all while still remaining true to the character that Stephen King created. Mike Flanagan’s Awareness Is Key Image courtesy of MovieStillsDb Of course, there’s very little mystery in the direction that Carrie’s story ultimately goes in. The image of Sissy Spacek's Carrie standing at prom and covered in blood, for example, is one that still sticks in the collective brain of audiences all these years later. Flanagan is under no illusion in this regard and refuses to pretend that viewers are unaware of what’s going to happen. The series establishes the fire at the high school almost right away, almost giving away a huge part of the ending before the show has even fully begun. In a typical series, a flash-forward like this has the potential to undermine the story by revealing where the story is going, thus removing some of the stakes. However, as an adaptation and a remake, Carrie exists in a different set of circumstances. Here, knowing that the deadly fire is coming actually ends up improving the arcs of the individual characters, as more focus is put on them without looking ahead too much. Carrie Brings Stephen King’s Story Into The Modern Era Credit: Robert Falconer/Prime Video One of the strongest elements of Flanagan’s adaptation of Carrie is the way it successfully updates King’s original story, bringing these characters into the modern day. The title character now exists in a world where every one of her peers has a phone in the palm of their hand, and social media naturally plays a huge role in Carrie’s less-than-ideal transition into high school. The other girls use their phones and social media to humiliate and bully Carrie, which not only gives this story a modern twist, but also provides an interesting commentary on a very serious real-world issue. Crucially, Carrie remains truthful to its source material throughout all of this. Any movie or show that’s telling a story set in an American high school has some difficult subject matter to contend with — school shootings and mass violence involving children. As it’s such a sensitive topic, it’s a difficult subject to incorporate into any story, especially a show like Carrie. Rather than shying away from these darker themes, Flanagan embraces them with an exceptional amount of care and grace. These themes become core pieces of the show’s broader examination of how violence has become an increasingly familiar part of American life. It is, at times, uncomfortable to watch, but that’s certainly by design, and Carrie deserves credit for being brave enough to face those topics head-on. This level of thoughtfulness doesn’t extend to every aspect of the show, however. For example, some of Carrie’s high school enemies, such as Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), often feel like stereotypical bullies. Not only that, but their behavior is so cruel that it feels less like traditional bullying and more like deliberate violence against another human being. That may play into the aforementioned theme of violence, but it makes these characters less believable in the process. All 8 episodes of Carrie premiere October 7, 2026, on Prime Video. Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network Prime Video Showrunner Mike Flanagan Cast Summer H. Howell Carrie White Matthew Lillard Principal Grayle Samantha Sloyan Margaret White