Carrie is a classic, horror master Stephen King's debut novel, no less, and as such it has been adapted many times. Almost too many times, some might suggest.
I think the biggest question following the announcement that Prime Video was bringing yet another version to the table was, well, why? What else is there to this story possibly left to tell? And I'm pleased to tell you that not only is the show actually really good, I think I also know the 'why'.
© Courtesy of PrimeEven if you have never watched or read any version of Carrie, you must have some idea of what it is about as a pop culture cornerstone of the horror genre. Carrie is a young girl with religious zealot parents who happens to have powers of telekinesis. Upon being bullied and humiliated at school, resulting in her being covered in pig's blood at Prom, Carrie goes on a rampage of revenge, using her powers to hysterically destroy her enemies.
© Robert FalconerWhile every adaptation has treated the source material differently, I think it's fair to say that the show wants to show us a soft, gentle version of Carrie, at least in the early days. Completely cut off from the modern world, Carrie begins school as a sophomore student with a wide-eyed vulnerability, completely ignorant to the dangers of the modern world which the show wastes no time in introducing to her. Modernising the show from it's 1970s setting, the Prime Video version viscerally introduces her to the concept of school shootings and the cruelties of social media, which fits perfectly for a story about a girl broken by bullying.
The show also makes a softer version of her mother, who is less hateful towards her daughter and more terrified of influences from the outside world and a desire to protect her child. All in all, it's a departure from the book, but for me it's a welcome one. It feels less excruciating to watch, and more like you're watching a slowly unfolding high school drama before it descends into horror.
© Courtesy of PrimeMy favourite thing about the show, however, is the retrospective introduction to Stephen King's world of the 'shining', people who share powers that eventually shape his fictional universe. While Carrie was his first novel, and has no mention of any others with 'powers', it feels like the intention of the Mike Flanagan-adapted show is to kick off television's 'shining' universe, with the opening episode instantly connecting us to others who can feel Carrie's presence, with one of Carrie's classmates even mysteriously revealing that there were "others" who helped her commit the chaos she unleashed on the town.
The combination of the show perhaps leaning away for 'pure horror' and taking on an investigative drama angle, all while modernising the classic story while delving deeper in the Stephen King universe really worked for me. I know it's very different from the novel, and die hard fans might feel much more passionately about it than myself, but as a fan of Mike Flanagan's previous works including The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, I think he has taken this tale and found a new, relatable, human heart for it. And I like it.
