Quick heads up: for any spoilers, please check the bottom section.

The short version: Carrie is Mike Flanagan’s eight-episode Stephen King miniseries on Prime Video, released October 7, 2026 and already renewed for season 2. My Carrie TV series review verdict: must watch, 3.5 out of 5.

Why I gave this Carrie a chance

I wasn’t jazzed by the Chloë Grace Moretz version, and I’ll be honest: I came to this one through Mike Flanagan, not through Stephen King. I love The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, pretty much everything he does. So I gave Carrie a chance, and the eight-episode miniseries, which landed on Prime Video on October 7, 2026, is really well made. It’s intriguing, and it captivates you.

Carrie, Margaret and the cast

Summer H. Howell plays Carrie with a kind of honesty that makes her instantly likable. That strays from King’s novel, where Carrie is a misfit tormented by her peers (stephenking.com). Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White was a revelation. She grounds the character and doesn’t turn her into a cartoon villain, which is how Margaret felt to me in the Brian De Palma film.

The real star: Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton)

For me the standout is Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen. She humanizes the villain, and I know plenty of people take issue with that. They don’t want to feel anything for the girl who starts the cruelty. I think it was needed.

The phrase that stuck with me while watching was that Chris feels like a stranger in her own life. Her mother leaves for a new family and seems to want Chris only on her own terms, and honestly, to me the mother is the real villain there. Then you watch a teenager who wants everything immediately: the car goes, her best friend’s attention drifts toward the new girl, and Chris catastrophises. None of that excuses what she does. It explains why she keeps escalating, and it makes the horror work because the cruelty comes from somewhere.

It helps that Chris finds Carrie annoying, and the show lets you feel the petty, teenage way that irritation curdles.

The scene that got me: Carrie and the guidance counselor

My most touching scene is in episode two, “Foreign Language,” when Carrie sits down with guidance counselor Mr. Morton (Tim Bagley) and they trade favourite quotes from books. Carrie offers the opening of Emily Winfield Martin’s The Wonderful Things You Will Be: “I know you’ll be kind, and clever, and bold…” It’s a children’s book. She says it to a man she’s only just met, and it brought tears to my eyes.

Where it lost me

• The wider universe. I understand a lot of Stephen King’s characters have the shine, but the world-building felt like it was setting up something bigger than this story. JoBlo’s review makes a similar point.
• Carrie’s agency at prom. Taking it away was a choice, and not one I loved. Same for the character of Emaline (Thalia Dudek). I wanted a few more answers.
• The music. Mostly good, but too many Haute and Freddy songs, and sometimes they got in the way of the show.
• Sue Snell. Siena Agudong started with a promising role, then Sue kind of disappeared as the series went on.

The Brian De Palma film, which I watched right after

I finished the series and then watched the 1976 version, and I really didn’t like it. It felt hokey. The sound effects were too loud. Characters weren’t given time to build, so I didn’t understand the motivations. And I thought the first shot was gratuitous.

SPOILERS: the finale (click to open)

Stop here if you haven’t watched all eight episodes.

The scene that stayed with me was Carrie killing Chris and Billy. It’s traumatic, though given everything that’s happened on the show, it feels justified. (Decider’s episode 8 recap covers the scene.) I also liked that the story is brought into the modern era with social media. A lot of people take issue with updating classics, but I enjoyed it.

Seth Peist, Carrie’s English teacher, played by Rahul Kohli, was one of the added storylines that gave the story more layers for me. Peist is, basically, a predator: the show reveals that the rumours about him are true, and that he had been involved with a 15-year-old student. It’s grim, and it complicates Chris’s story, because the girl who starts the rumour turns out to be right about him. His storyline ends with the character’s suicide.

Content note: child abuse and suicide. This is about the character, not the actor. Sources: Decider’s episode 6 recap and the ScreenRant interview with Amber Midthunder.

Carrie season 2: what comes next

Prime Video renewed Carrie for a second season on October 22, 2026, with Flanagan and King both returning. (Prime Video announcement; Deadline.) I’m excited, though I don’t know where you go from here without much source material left, unless Flanagan heads in the Dark Tower direction. That part is pure speculation on my side. Nothing official links the two.

Is Carrie (2026) worth watching? My verdict: must watch

3.5 out of 5. It isn’t flawless, but it’s well acted and worth your time, mostly for Chris and Margaret.

More of my film writing: film reviews.