Rating: 3.6/5
As the first movie adaptation of Stephen King’s novel by the same name, I believe Carrie (1976) does a great job portraying the constant mysterious atmosphere through its storytelling of how Carrie White, who, as a result of her fanatic mother’s religious isolation from the outer world, was constantly bullied for her ignorance once she started attending high school. After the perpetrators, Chris Hargenson and her clique of girls, also plan their final prank for Carrie during their high school prom. Throughout the story, Carrie gradually discovers her telekinetic abilities to manipulate physical objects through her mind, and with the abusive pressure at home and the seething disrespect from those at school, Carrie needs to take on the world with her new powers.
Personally speaking, as a Gen-Z teenager, this movie feels too old to me, and as invalid of a reason as this might be, I do think it breaks the immersion of the story being depicted on screen through its ’90s cartoon orchestral music and graininess sometimes. As a result, I wasn’t exactly feeling the world of oppression and discovery that Carrie had experienced. However, other than that, I believe that Sissy Spacek’s performance on screen delivered one of the most gut-wrenching performances emotionally, and it really brought the emotionally complex story to life. She is oppressed, and the audience tries to be rebellious while being naive to the world of what’s ahead of her. She faces abuse and shame, but at the same time, her kindness and tenderness accept this abuse without fighting.
This depiction of her kindness is then perfectly contrasted with her final transition and ending as the climax approaches and her increased embrace of her powers.
To be completely honest, it was a bad idea to watch the 2026 TV show of Carrie before watching the original, so as such, I believe I have a significant level of bias towards this movie only because the show unfortunately outshined this movie. However, I will reserve the horror elements in this movie to its strength, but I don’t think it used its R rating enough since most of its horror really only came down to what happens at her house, but I think the overall depiction of the carnage that Carrie causes at the end could’ve been way more dramatic if there were more visual storytelling about it.
Overall, the movie perfectly captures the two worlds of Carrie, that is, both hells at home or school, but it lacks plot depth in general and character building for Carrie, making it seem rushed and unsatisfying for the audience.