Mike Flanagan has adapted Stephen King's novel Carrie into an eight-episode drama series for Amazon, with Summer H. Howell starring as the telekinetic teenager Carrie White and Samantha Sloyan playing her domineering mother, Margaret. Flanagan directed four of the season's episodes.
The series marks another collaboration between Flanagan and King's work, following Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck, as well as Midnight Mass, which was not based on a King text but carried a similar sensibility. It also continues Flanagan's pattern of expanding compact source material, as he previously did with The Haunting of Hill House, The Turn of the Screw and The Fall of the House of Usher.
The story opens with news footage and 911 call logs documenting fires and devastation in the town of Chamberlain before rewinding a year to the death of construction worker Ralph White, played by Tahmoh Penikett. Authorities investigating his death discover his religious wife, Margaret, and their teenage daughter, Carrie, who has been homeschooled and reportedly never left their home. To keep the house and retain custody, Margaret takes a job at a big box store while Carrie is enrolled in public school.
At school, Carrie faces bullying from Christine, played by Alison Thornton, the best friend of class president Sue Snell, played by Siena Agudong. Other characters include principal Matthew Lillard, gym teacher Rita played by Amber Midthunder, guidance counselor Peter played by Tim Bagley, and Sue's boyfriend Tommy, played by Joel Oulette. Flanagan regulars Rahul Kohli, Michael Trucco and Kate Siegel also appear in the cast alongside Sloyan.
The series interweaves an unseen interviewer questioning survivors of the unspecified disaster referenced in the opening, with testimony that reportedly diverges from what longtime fans of the story might expect. The third episode opens with a narrator citing historical case studies drawn from the "Claimants of telekinetic abilities" section of the Telekinesis Wikipedia page.
The adaptation also folds in original material with tonal echoes of other King works, including Firestarter and Needful Things, while drawing visual and narrative nods to Brian De Palma's 1976 film adaptation starring Sissy Spacek. That 1976 version was followed by a sequel, a TV movie and a 2013 remake, all of which faded from memory despite strong central performances. In tone and pacing, the Amazon series has been likened to the first season of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why.
Photo: Kevin Payravi, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
