‘Carrie’ Feels Fresh in First Two Episodes | Fantastic Fest 2026
Mike Flanagan gave a two-episode sneak peek at his new take on Stephen King’s Carrie, showcasing the first two episodes to Fantastic Fest audiences. All eight episodes of Carrie will premiere on Prime Video on October 7, 2026. This new vision is one of the first collaborations between Flanagan and Prime Video, and at first glance, it seems like a healthy start.
Since the iconic adaptation starring Sissy Spacek, a few previous attempts have tried to bring Carrie back to the mainstream. The last effort, starring Chloe Grace Moretz, had moments of quality, mostly thanks to Julianne Moore’s riveting portrayal of Carrie’s abusive mother. Still, the remake or reimagining failed to capture anything memorable.
With Flanagan at the helm (and directing the first two episodes), we immediately feel something new being explored. Flanagan isn’t interested in recapturing the magic of the 1976 film. Instead, he seems curious about what the story has to say in 2026.
Carrie brings a Gen Z take on the classic Stephen King story
What does being a sheltered and vulnerable teenager feel like when suddenly thrown into a Gen Z playground? For such a horrific tale, the first two episodes begin with great sincerity, telling a tragic fish-out-of-water story about a teenager trying to survive a new high school environment.
The series begins like a Netflix true-crime series. Analog footage shows the looming tragedy as a blazing fire. We then see various individuals talking alone in front of a camera, each discussing the tragic event. When asked about Carrie, everyone has a different answer about who she is. But one answer stands out: a teenager named Sue Snell (Siena Agudong), with moisture around her eyes, explains, “She was my friend.”
We then learn Carrie’s (Summer H. Howell) tragic backstory. After losing her father, Carrie and her mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), are discovered in the house. It becomes a concern for social services that this man kept a wife and a child locked in a house for years.
To help Carrie assimilate into a normal life, the system forces Margaret to find a steady job and Carrie to attend public school. The story then challenges the audience to question who is causing Carrie more harm. Her overbearing, overprotective mother or the school system that refuses to acknowledge the terrifying reality of teens in an environment of mass shootings.
On her first day, she becomes traumatized by a school shooter drill, and from there, she slowly becomes the target of bullying. Especially by Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), a Regina George high school teen, who chooses Carrie as a target to unleash her insecurities and depression onto her in mean-spirited ways. Chris is in her senior year, her parents are separated, and her financial future is in question. Instead of dealing with it in healthy ways, she makes Carrie’s life hell to feel better.
Another departure in this series is that Carrie focuses slightly more on the faculty than in other iterations. In these first two episodes, we meet characters inside the school, including principal Grayle, played by Matthew Lillard; a teacher named Miss Desjardin, played by Amber Midthunder; a sweet guidance counselor named Peter, played by Tim Bagley; and Rahul Kohli as another high school teacher named Seth.
Initial takeaways of the Mike Flanagan/Prime Video series
While this isn’t a review of the eight-episode adaptation, we can offer a few takeaways based on these first two episodes. First, if you are expecting a horror show in the vein of Haunting of Hill House, this isn’t in the same ballpark.
For the most part, the first two episodes serve more as a high school drama than a terrifying vision of the classic story. Subtle hints suggest how sadistic it might become in the back half of the show. However, the setup is closer to Mike Flanagan’s more sincere work, where characters have plenty of room to show who they are before things get truly brutal.
Furthermore, it’s hard to know how the festival will react to these two episodes, compared with how The Fall of the House of Usher was received a couple of years ago. The Fall of the House of Usher was set up perfectly to end on episode two for Fantastic Fest audiences because the second episode ended on an extremely violent and bizarre note.
Episode two of Carrie is rather tame by comparison, wrapping on a more character-driven note. That said, I care about every one of these characters, and I want to see what happens to them. So, in that respect, it is a successful beginning, but it’s not a massive cliffhanger like the one from Flanagan’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptation.
Most of all, Summer H. Howell might be one of the best actresses to portray Carrie since the 1976 original film. Her presence carries a kindness and vulnerability that none of the recent attempts to remake this property have captured. As the viewer, you truly want to protect her from anyone and anything, which makes the experience all the more heartbreaking when she does get bullied.
Overall, it seems like an excellent start for a property that seemed completely drained of inspiration. However, this is only two episodes, and we have not seen the rest of the series yet. That said, you can see for yourself all eight episodes on Prime Video on October 7th.
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