Mike Flanagan’s Carrie is So Much More Than a Remake, and We Need It Now More Than Ever

Reboots and remakes are a dime a dozen, but Mike Flanagan’s Carrie is so much more than a remake – it’s timely and necessary. Flanagan accomplished a rare feat with his updated and modernized take on Stephen King’s. Initially I questioned whether Flanagan should adapt something that didn’t need to be adapted, but at the end of the day I’m so glad he did. The Prime Video limited series Carrie not only celebrates the past, it elevates the story and aligns it with all of the present-day terrors that surround us. With all the uncertainty in the world that we face on a daily, it’s a story we need now more than ever.

The media was given access to all eight episodes of the limited series along with a lengthy statement from Flanagan about what he was hoping he accomplished in his version of the story. Anyone who has ever seen Brian De Palma’s 1976 version with Sissy Spacek in the title role of Carrie White knows that the movie was a haunting masterpiece that withstands the test of time. Flanagan, in retooling the story for a modern audience, had a steep hill to climb to pull it off.

“Knowing King’s versions of the central character had already been played so iconically to an unavoidable conclusion – if I did this, it would only be exciting if we changed those characters on a fundamental level,” Flanagan said in a press release. “Instead of a traumatized, timid Carrie White – as portrayed by the irreplicable Sissy Spacek – I started to picture her opposite: a Carrie who was open, eager, earnest and curious. What would our modern look like through earnest, innocent eyes? What would she think about the world we’ve made?”

In the Prime Video series, police arrive at the White residence after a tragic accident kills the family patriarch. The trouble is that no one knows much about him, so authorities are shocked to find Carrie (Summer H. Howell) and her mother Margaret (Samantha Sloyan) living there. Margaret rarely goes outside, and virtually no one knows that a young girl was living there her whole life. Margaret is forced to take on a job while Carrie is sent to high school.

High school is hard enough, and the trials and tribulations that Spacek’s Carrie encountered are just as relevant for Howell’s Carrie. But Howell has to content with so much more, as do so many students in school today. Carrie, arriving at school with insatiable curiosity and excitement, is stopped in her tracks upon entry because her crucifix necklace sets off the metal detector, gaining her lots of jabs from the students behind her in line. And that’s just the beginning of her no good, very bad day. And week. And year. As Carrie encounters adversity, her special abilities start coming to the fore. It’s bad news for the people around her, and little does she know, it’s attracting the wrong kind of attention, too.

The story is still familiar, with an ending everyone knows is coming. But it’s Flanagan’s journey to that ending that make Carrie so important and relevant for today’s audience.

School Sucks, I Know

Anyone who has ever been to high school, whether public or private, knows that it’s not easy. Navigating the complex social structures has always been difficult, but today’s students are forced to deal with things that older generations can’t even imagine. The school shooter drill is a sobering reminder of what today’s students live with. I graduated high school the year before Colombine and it wasn’t lost on me how the world was about to change. No one had a clue that the horrific nightmare of a school shooting in Colorado would repeat itself over and over again.

Watching Carrie learn about and process the reality of school shootings is sobering. She’s been hidden from the evils of the world, and now, on her first day of school, she’s confronted by the harsh realities of the world around her. There’s nothing but shock and horror in her wide eyes as Matthew Lillard’s Principal Grayle tries to assure her that these drills are nothing to worry about.

Carrie went to school thinking everyone talked about books they loved and shared a joy of learning. The reality was nothing close to it.

The series also offers some insight into how bullies are born. Chris (Alison Thornton) probably wouldn’t be a mean girl at all if not for all of the things going wrong in her life. Everything in her life arrived on a silver platter, but the facade is slipping. Her mother is setting up shop with the father of a classmate while her father’s struggle with the family’s finances mean she can’t attend her dream school. In her eyes, her life is spiraling out of control so lashing out at an easy target like Carrie White takes her own pain away.

Even the teachers are tired. Gathering at the local watering hole, Carrie’s teachers express frustration at their jobs, the pain in the ass students, the administration and life in general. It’s no wonder that the people who should be helping to protect Carrie can’t – or won’t – intervene.

The Kids Are Not Alright

Imagine trying to deal with a new world, new school, new people and rules you don’t understand while trying to navigate biology and terrifying powers, all at the same time. Flanagan’s Carrie gives viewers more reasons than ever to feel sympathy for the titular character. The series itself highlights all the ways we fail kids, an each other. It’s a timely reminder that we need now more than ever. These days, coming of age isn’t the biggest hardship in a child’s life – it’s life itself.

All episodes of Carrie are available to stream now on Prime Video.