Carrie Isn’t Very Scary

Amelia McKinney ‘29

Carrie on Amazon Prime Video gives Stephen King’s debut novel from the 70s a more modern look. For instance, lead director Mike Flanagan made a slight change – he introduced cyber bullying instead of verbal bullying. The show itself was very entertaining and kept me engaged. There weren’t any parts that felt as if something was being dragged out. Except it was labeled as a “horror” show, and yet, it wasn’t scary – even to me, someone who gets scared very easily. 

The main plot was overall interesting. It’s about a telekinetic girl who grew up insanely religious with little to no connection towards the outside world. Her father dies when she’s sixteen and she’s forced into public school so her mother can work. This is where her life starts to go downhill – she ends up getting bullied and gaining barely any friends. 

The main character, Carrie, is portrayed by Summer H. Howell. She did a wonderful job as Carrie, she made it feel as if I knew Carrie, and I was truly sympathetic for her. Actually, the entire cast did a good job. I felt all of their emotions, and I could tell exactly what they were feeling. 

The major themes of this show were bullying, isolation, and revenge. Bullying was shown throughout the entire show, isolation was shown after she came to realize how she was actually being treated, and revenge was shown most through episodes 5-8. There was a lot of suspense built up between finding out what the final decision was going to be between Chris and Carrie. And by a lot I mean, a lot. 

The only issue I had with it was that it wasn’t scary. I never once felt scared to watch the next scene or have to turn it off because I just couldn’t handle it. Which is very ironic considering the fact that I can’t handle horror. I even get scared walking through frightfest at Six Flags without the actors near me. 

In all, the show was honestly very good besides it not being scary. The most notable part of the show was Carrie’s character development throughout it. Her growth made you feel who she was as a person. I would recommend this show to people who enjoyed Stranger Things and liked Eleven’s character. I give this show 4 out of 5 stars.