Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ Reimagines Stephen King Tragedy as Supernatural Origins Story

Mike Flanagan’s eight-episode adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie, now streaming on Prime Video, has concluded with a controversial departure from the source material, opting for an open-ended narrative that transforms the original story’s tragic finality into a setup for a larger supernatural universe.

For audiences expecting a faithful retelling of King’s 1974 novel, the finale may prove frustrating. Instead of the book’s definitive conclusion, Flanagan introduces a secret collective of telekinetic women, offering a glimpse of Carrie White escaping her small-town trauma to join a network of psychic outcasts.

Flanagan, known for his Halloween-themed Netflix series such as The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, initially hesitated to tackle the property. He acknowledged the enduring legacy of Brian de Palma’s 1976 film, which starred Sissy Spacek, and questioned why the story needed another iteration. However, he ultimately accepted the project due to the timeless relevance of King’s themes regarding high school violence and bullying.

“Carrie is a story about high school violence and bullying, and that feels immediate and important today,” Flanagan told MovieWeb in 2024. “There is room for this to actually have a lot to say that’s very relevant.”

The series, starring Summer H. Howell as Carrie and Samantha Sloyan as her oppressive religious mother Margaret, updates the setting for the modern era. Key scenes are recontextualized for a digital age, including a cyberbullying campaign led by Chris Hargensen and the inclusion of school safety measures like metal detectors. The narrative retains signature beats from the novel, such as the locker room incident and the prom night pig’s blood prank, but expands character motivations and adds new subplots.

The finale diverges significantly from King’s plot. After Carrie unleashes her telekinetic powers during the prom, accidentally killing her date Tommy while destroying her tormentors, she allows a fellow psychic named Emaline to take control of her mind to exact further vengeance on the town of Chamberlain. In the novel, Carrie acts alone.

In the series version, both Carrie and Margaret survive the collision at their home. While King’s Carrie dies from blood loss after killing her mother, the show depicts Margaret using latent psychic abilities to escape the rubble. The character Adelaide, portrayed by Flanagan’s real-life wife Kate Siegel, ultimately kills Margaret using the method described in the book.

Carrie is then spirited away to join Adelaide’s group of psychics, leaving her fate unresolved. Flanagan hinted at potential connections to other King works, noting that Adelaide references “the shine,” the psychic gift possessed by Danny Torrance in The Shining. This nod suggests possible crossovers within a broader King literary universe.

Although Prime Video has not yet officially renewed the series, Flanagan has expressed his desire for a three-season arc. “I think Carrie has a wonderful three-step arc,” he told Collider. “It’s a trilogy, really.”