Flanagan's Carrie: A Modern Take on a Classic Horror Novel

Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's 'Carrie' for Amazon is an eight-episode drama series that expands on the classic horror novel. The show retains a relationship between Flanagan and King, who have worked together on other projects such as 'Gerald's Game', 'Doctor Sleep', and 'The Life of Chuck'. This expansion follows Flanagan's record of taking slender texts and expanding them in unexpected ways, seen in his previous works like 'The Haunting of Hill House', 'The Turn of the Screw', and 'The Fall of the House of Usher'. However, the question remains whether 'Carrie' benefits from this expansion.

The novel was written before King had the influence to write longer books, making it a marvelously contained example of his work. The original adaptation by Brian De Palma in 1976 is widely regarded as perfect, with Sissy Spacek delivering a career-topping performance and several iconic set pieces. Despite this perfection, Hollywood saw fit to produce sequels, TV movies, and remakes, all of which have been largely forgotten.

Flanagan's take on 'Carrie' is the adaptation that 2026 and the current TV landscape deserve, with a collection of big authorial choices that are at best admirable and at worst defensible. However, it may not be the adaptation that fans wanted. The show's topicality and performances, especially that of Summer H. Howell as Carrie White, are notable.