Television series

Carrie

Name: Carrie
Genre: Horror
Released: 2026
Cast: Summer H. Howell, Siena Nicole Agudong, Matthew Lillard, Amber Midthunder, Samantha Sloyan

Other titles called Carrie: the 1976 film.

Mike Flanagan's Carrie expands Stephen King's debut into eight episodes of high school horror, following a sheltered girl discovering telekinetic powers while navigating social media bullying and her abusive mother. It's a character-driven exploration of cruelty and consequence, grounded in the messy specificity of adolescence, asking whether its protagonist becomes hero or monster—or something sadder.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you are drawn to slow-building dread, where the cruelty of ordinary teenagers and a controlling home do most of the scaring before the supernatural power takes hold.

Skip it if you came for the book's familiar beats at speed; this is a patient build across eight episodes, and its bullying and family scenes may feel heavy going.

What it asks of you: Settle in for eight episodes that take their time, with long stretches of cruelty and domestic tension you have to sit through before the pressure finally tips.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Haunting of Hill House2018

Flanagan's masterpiece of intimate horror: a family cursed by a house, told with devastating emotional intelligence and jump-scares that land because you care about the people screaming. If you want horror that breaks your heart, this is it.

But Ten hours is a commitment, and the second half shifts from scares to grief. Some find the family drama overwrought; others find it the point entirely.

Stranger Things2016

Supernatural terror in a small town, where the real horror is government conspiracy and losing people you love. Magnificent cast chemistry and a genuine sense that anyone could die, elevating teen-focused sci-fi into something genuinely frightening.

But Four seasons long now, and later ones lose momentum. The Duffer Brothers stumble with tonal balance as the show expands, especially in season two.

Yellowjackets2021

Teenage girls stranded in wilderness, fracturing into trauma and mystery. Anchored by complex female characters and a non-linear structure that keeps you unsettled: you know something terrible happened, but the reveal is expertly delayed.

But Dense mythology that demands attention, and some threads feel deliberately loose. The second season splits focus in ways some viewers found frustrating.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Carrie

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Raw2017

Both examine female power emerging through the body as something society wants to suppress and fear. Both ask whether a girl's hunger—for autonomy, for experience, for release—makes her dangerous or wronged.

A French-Belgian film about a vegetarian girl discovering cannibalistic urges during her first year at veterinary school. It's a visceral allegory for female sexuality and appetite, shocking and deeply empathetic. Garance Marillier's performance is raw and real.

But Graphic body horror including self-mutilation. Genuinely difficult to watch, and its exploration of hunger as both literal and sexual may disgust you. Subtitled.

Carrie1976

Brian De Palma's film is a masterwork of visual horror and humiliation, with Sissy Spacek's performance capturing the terror of girlhood and powerlessness before her power awakens. The prom sequence is still devastating.

But Slower opening than you'd expect; De Palma takes time with character work that impatient viewers find glacial. Shot in 1976, and it shows.

The Act2019

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's true story of psychological abuse and murder, anchored by Michelle Colette's heartbreaking performance. Explores how manipulation shapes identity in ways that feel deeply uncomfortable—the kind of horror that lives in families.

But Deeply disturbing real abuse depicted on screen. If Munchausen syndrome by proxy triggered you before, this will retraumatize you.

Midnight Mass2021

Flanagan's tale of faith, isolation, and vampirism in a dying island town. Seven episodes of slow-burn dread building to genuine body horror and theological questions. The cast is exceptional and the dialogue sings.

But Frontloaded with long monologues about faith that feel preachy if you're not in the headspace for it. Some find the first episode sluggish.

American Horror Story2011

Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, and Evan Peters in a Southern gothic tale of witches, revenge, and the cost of power. Darkly funny, visually stunning, and fearless about depicting women's rage as supernatural force.

But Tonally uneven—it teeters between camp horror and genuine trauma. Plot threads don't always resolve satisfyingly, and its treatment of race is muddled.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle2019

Shirley Jackson's unnerving tale of two sisters isolated by suspicion and tragedy. Slow, strange, deeply unsettling in its portrayal of how communities police women, and how women survive through strangeness.

But Deliberately paced and peculiar; conventional viewers find it glacial and deliberately annoying rather than frightening.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle poster

The Witch2016

Folk horror about a Puritan family unraveling in the wilderness, with slow-burn dread and ambiguity about what's supernatural versus what's psychological. Anya Taylor-Joy is mesmerizing as innocence fractured by suspicion.

But Deliberately slow, uses negative space and silence, shot in period-accurate darkness. If you need constant stimulus, this will feel like punishment.

Everything Sucks!2018

Both are character-driven stories about high school outcasts finding power and agency. Everything Sucks! plays this as comedy and warmth; Carrie plays it as tragedy. They're examining the same social ecosystem from opposite emotional registers.

A cancelled-too-soon comedy about a 1999 high school where theater kids and AV club nerds clash. It's funny, warm, and understands adolescent desperation with genuine affection. The cast is phenomenal and it gets better as it goes.

But Only two seasons before Netflix axed it on a cliffhanger. Feels incomplete and will leave you furious at the cancellation rather than the story.

Angst1983

Both examine violence emerging from isolation and social rejection, but Angst denies us the empathy Carrie offers. Where Carrie might ask 'what if we'd been kinder?', Angst insists some violence is irreducible and senseless. Together they bracket the question of monstrosity.

A brutal Austrian horror film about a young man fresh from prison stalking and terrorizing a family. It's a visceral, handheld nightmare shot from the killer's perspective—genuinely disturbing in ways mainstream horror avoids.

But Graphically violent, dehumanizing, and deeply bleak with no catharsis. It exists to make you uncomfortable, and it succeeds. Shot in German; very dark.