Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ Officially Gives ‘Midnight Mass’ a New Kind of Nightmare

1 week ago 24

Published Oct 10, 2026, 10:10 AM EDT

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Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King.

The following article discusses spoilers for Episode 8 of Carrie, "AP Physics"

Up until now, Netflix’s Midnight Mass was considered Mike Flanagan’s greatest achievement. It's certainly the best original story he's ever put on the small screen. However, his newest collaboration with horror master Stephen King offers a new perspective on the genre. Prime Video’s eight-episode modernization of King’s debut masterpiece, Carrie, has redefined horror for fans. Flanagan sets the classic story of high school bullying in a modern context full of school shooter drills and social media.

The terror is increased from previous Flanagan vehicles because, as Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) reiterates, “we were just kids.” Violence against children is harrowing, but that isn’t the only way the director heightens the stakes from the masterful Midnight Mass. He also casts frequent collaborator Samantha Sloyan in the role of Margaret White. Flanagan-heads will recognize her as the reprehensible Bev Keane, but despite their similarities, Margaret’s story is much more tragic than her previous villain.

‘Carrie’s Margaret Is Much More Complex Than ‘Midnight Mass’ Bev

When first approached for the role of Margaret White, Samantha Sloyan was initially hesitant. The role of Carrie’s (Summer H. Howell) staunchly religious mother could at first glance appear to be just a shadow of her previous role in Midnight Mass. On further inspection, however, Margaret is much more complex and, in some ways, tragic than Bev Keane. While the two characters are ruled by religion, the horror of Margaret’s character is that she wasn’t always on the path to being radicalized.

Her relationship with God is a prime element of her characterization, but she wasn’t always ruled by it. One flashback shows that she once had her own ideas, but slowly her husband brainwashed her with concepts that mental illness doesn’t exist and that heathens need to be saved. Bev was entirely a monster of her own creation, while Margaret was a victim in her own way, which led to her villainy. In a conversation with Perri Nemiroff for Collider’s "Ladies Night," Sloyan acknowledges the tragedy of Margaret’s relationship with religion.

“When Kate's character asks, ‘Did you ever have the shine, the power?’ And she said, ‘I did,’ and she's like, ‘I thought it was God,’" Sloyan explains. "And I think it's so close in that moment of her really having it clear to her that that was not God talking to her.”

Margaret is close to acknowledging the mistakes that she made when it came to Carrie. Even though everything she did was for the benefit of her daughter, doing so crushed the teenager's spirit. Her belief that religion made her family better than everyone else was one of the reasons that Carrie was so isolated and led to the tragic conclusion. It also led to Margaret’s death that Flanagan changed from the book, which was much more horrifying than what happened to Bev.

Margaret’s Death in ‘Carrie’ Is a Horrifying End

When Bev dies at the end of Netflix's masterpiece, Midnight Mass, it was a long time coming. A villain absolutely undeserving of redemption, Bev kills Joe’s dog just for the love of the game and nothing else. Her ultimate burning in the sun is well-earned. Margaret’s end in Carrie is devastating, particularly because her path wasn’t necessarily inevitable. Samantha Sloyan tells Collider that Margaret had a better heart than Bev. This heart, however, literally leads to her demise, just as she starts to understand her mistakes.

“I don't know, it's a terrible death. I think similar to what Bev is going through, but with a kinder heart, of just having it laid so bare that you just made the wrong choices, you know? And in the moment, there's nothing. The only thing to do is just hope someone can forgive you, and that the next phase is better.”

Kate Siegel’s character, Adelaide, has the Shine and uses her mind control to weaponize Margaret's own limited telekinesis against her. She pushes Margaret to slow her own heart rate to the point of death. Now able to pass off the mother's death as heart failure after the physical trauma she went through, Adelaide can clean up any record of the existence of psychic children.

Margaret has to experience her own death in slow motion, understanding that there is nothing she can do to stop it. This is far more gruesome than Bev’s death and arguably, less deserved. Margaret dies much differently in the book, but this way, the character can understand her crimes without necessarily being absolved of them. Her need to control Carrie led to all the death and destruction, and she doesn’t understand that she has to change until it's too late. Carrie may be an adaptation of Stephen King, but this ending is quintessential Mike Flanagan.