Hey friends, Barbarella here. I don’t know that words could adequately convey how excited I believe you should be for Prime’s new CARRIE series that will be out on October 7, 2026. I got to catch the first couple episodes of the new show at Fantastic Fest, and y’all, I love it so much! If you think the world does not need this series, think again. These are the reasons you should check it out.
For starters, what doesn’t Mike Flanagan turn to gold? This is no exception. He takes Stephen King’s source material and runs with it, adapting it to resonate with today’s viewers. That’s right. He brings CARRIE into the current age of Instagram and school-shooting drills, and he does so in the best possible way. An embarrassing moment in person has seemingly infinite consequences once it’s online, because as we all know, that stuff never completely goes away.
Admittedly, because I only caught the first two episodes at Fantastic Fest, I can’t say definitively that the rest of the series will continue on that level of awesome, but I totally believe it will. I suspect so because I had a similar experience with FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. I believe I saw the first three episodes of that series at Fantastic Fest before it aired, and I eagerly binged the entire thing the day it dropped. (Sleep? What’s that?) It lived up to the expectations set by the few episodes I experienced, so I’m comfortable recommending CARRIE after only a couple of episodes. What I’ve seen so far is riveting, and I know I will be binge-watching all the episodes as soon as I possibly can.
To be clear, this is not a mere reboot of the 1976 movie starring Sissy Spacek in the titular role, but rather a more-true-to-the-source-material take that proves relatable and interesting for both old fans and new.
Readers of Stephen King’s work know he spends time ensuring you get to intimately know a character, which was a point of mild contention when I spent pages getting to know a character fairly well only to watch him instantly get killed off in THE STAND. Still, he develops characters deeply, and CARRIE, the series, has the time to do the same. We get insight through interviews from different characters regarding their history with Carrie and what happened on prom night. Having multiple different perspectives allows a deeper understanding of what actually transpired and how the characters relate to each other.
Speaking of characters, the casting is excellent. Summer Howell is the perfect choice for Carrie, and we see much of this world through her eyes. Her performance is stellar. Amber Midthunder proves an excellent choice for Miss Desjardin, and Matthew Lillard is a delight as the high school principal. (I had an opportunity to meet him at the fest, and you can believe the rumors: he really is one of the nicest guys around!) I’d like to also mention Samantha Sloyan as Carrie’s mom. She feels like a far more believable character than Piper Laurie’s cuckoo-bananas version. ("Cuckoo-bananas" is my new favorite term, thanks to Ted Lasso’s Keely Jones.) This Margaret White shows her fear of secular influence on the daughter she overprotects. It seems more logical and driven by genuine fear of how the outside world influences its youth than just the extreme and overly devout behaviors of Piper Laurie’s version.
While it’s true, I get legitimately excited whenever Mike Flanagan attaches himself to any project, I sincerely believe this one is one that shouldn’t be missed.
Barbarella out!
