# Flanagan's Carrie remake excels but stumbles at the end > Mike Flanagan's eight-episode Prime Video series reimagines Stephen King's classic with depth and nuance, but a crucial plot change undermines Carrie's character arc. - Title: Flanagan's Carrie remake excels but stumbles at the end - Summary: Mike Flanagan's eight-episode Prime Video series reimagines Stephen King's classic with depth and nuance, but a crucial plot change undermines Carrie's… - Keywords: carrie, mike flanagan, prime video, stephen king, miniseries, horror, adaptation, summer h. howell, brian de palma, technology, science, Flanagan's - Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/10/review-carrie-is-a-triumphant-remix-with-one-major-flaw - Published: 2026-10-21T11:19:12+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: carrie, mike flanagan, prime video, stephen king, miniseries, horror, adaptation, summer h. howell, brian de palma, technology, science ## King's Carrie began with a wife's rescue Stephen King wrote three pages of Carrie after reading a Life magazine article about telekinesis, then threw them away.His wife Tabitha salvaged the pages and convinced him to continue. ## King based Carrie on real bullied girls King based the character on two girls he knew in high school who had been bullied relentlessly. ## De Palma's 1976 film became the gold standard Brian De Palma's 1976 film adaptation of Carrie became widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time and one of the best King adaptations. ## Flanagan takes on the fifty-year challenge Mike Flanagan signed on to create an eight-episode miniseries for Prime Video based on Carrie, released to mark the fifty-year anniversary of De Palma's film. ## Flanagan's Carrie is sheltered and grieving In Flanagan's version, Carrie has been homeschooled since birth. The death of her conspiracy theorist father in a freak construction accident forces Carrie and her mother Margaret into the real world after years of hardly… ## This Carrie is smart and curious Flanagan's Carrie is two grades ahead academically, surprisingly open and curious, and an avid reader thanks to a neighbour who hides books in a shared birdhouse. ## But she's unprepared for high school reality Flanagan's Carrie is extremely sheltered and unprepared for twenty-first century high school while grieving her father. ## The locker room scene goes viral Carrie starts her period while wearing white pants in gym class. Bully Chris Thornton pushes her into the shower and leads other girls in chanting plug it up while pelting her with sanitary napkins and… > plug it up ## Summer Howell redefines the role Twenty-two-year-old Summer H.Howell, best known for playing Alison Pierce in the Chucky franchise, beat out one thousand four hundred young actresses to play Carrie. ## Margaret is grieving, not cartoonish Flanagan improves on both De Palma's film and King's novel in his treatment of Margaret White. ## Margaret loves Carrie but seeks control Unlike King's Margaret who disliked her daughter, Sloyan's Margaret clearly loves Carrie and wants to protect her from sin. ## Billy and Chris are more complex In De Palma's film, Billy was a dim-witted jock and Chris was vapid.In Flanagan's series, Arthur Conti's Billy is a high school dropout and drug dealer who is dark, broody, smart and sarcastic. ## Chris's parents are divorcing and she's broke Chris's parents are divorcing, the father she idolizes faces financial ruin, and she didn't apply for financial aid in time to join her best friend Sue at Duke University. ## Chris lacks self-awareness about her cruelty When Carrie asks why Chris targets her particularly, Chris answers: I don't know.You were weird, and you pissed me off. > I don't know. You were weird, and you pissed me off ## Flanagan adds a cult of telekinetic women King's novel hints at a recessive TK gene and ends with an Appalachian woman writing about her four-year-old daughter's emerging telekinetic gifts. ## Emmaline is not what she seems Emmaline befriends Carrie and encourages her worst instincts, only to be revealed as an astral projection of the real Emmaline, who is definitely not a high school student. ## The prom scene is interrupted by phones De Palma's prom sequence followed the pig's blood moment with eerie silence before all hell breaks loose. ## Carrie survives but loses her agency The major flaw: Carrie is not solely responsible for prom night carnage and she survives.After Tommy is killed, Emmaline possesses Carrie to inflict the worst deadly havoc on her behalf. ## Carrie crushes Billy and Chris herself Carrie does crush Billy and Chris to death after flipping their car when Billy tries to run her down.She feels both horrified and strangely elated by what she's done. ## Flanagan plans two more seasons Flanagan has plans for another two seasons with King's blessing, taking the story into uncharted territory. ## Key takeaway Mike Flanagan's Carrie miniseries for Prime Video successfully reimagines King's novel with richer characterisation and modern setting, but weakens the story by having Carrie survive and share responsibility for prom night carnage.