Mike Flanagan's New Stephen King Series Officially Hits All-Time Low on Rotten Tomatoes

1 week ago 12

Published Oct 1, 2026, 1:53 PM EDT

Hannah covers horror, sci-fi, and games at Collider, where she writes news and features, reviews new releases, and interviews the people who make them. She’s helping build out Collider’s gaming coverage, with Pokémon as one of her specialties. If she isn’t writing about a monster, she’s probably watching one on a tape from her VHS collection.

Stephen King’s Carrie has been terrifying readers for more than 50 years, and its adaptations have had a difficult time escaping the shadow of Brian De Palma’s 1976 movie. Sissy Spacek’s performance and that unforgettable prom sequence helped make the movie a horror classic, leaving every subsequent version with a lot to live up to. Now, Mike Flanagan is bringing Carrie White to television with a new Prime Video series that gives her story eight episodes to unfold.

If anyone has earned some trust when it comes to revisiting King’s work, it’s Flanagan. The filmmaker previously adapted Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, alongside building a television résumé that includes The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher. His latest project brings together those two sides of his career, but the critical reception is shaping up differently from his previous horror shows.

At the time of writing, Carrie holds an 83% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes from 46 reviews, marking the lowest score among Flanagan’s television series. That is still a positive reception, even if the ranking makes it an unexpected result for a creator with such an acclaimed run of horror television.

What Are Critics Saying About Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’?

Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) at prom in 'Carrie'

The response to Carrie suggests that Flanagan’s decision to expand the story is both its biggest attraction and a source of disagreement. Collider’s review calls the adaptation a “riveting remix and risky expansion” of King’s classic novel, finding that its changes deliver mixed results while remaining true to the source material. With such a familiar story, those departures give audiences something new to discover, even if they don’t all work equally well. Positive reviews highlight how the contemporary setting gives Carrie’s story a reason to return. The focus on cyberbullying brings her isolation into an era when humiliation can follow a teenager home and spread well beyond the school hallway. Critics have also praised the show’s adolescent angst and soundtrack, finding that its approach to teenage life helps the adaptation establish an identity of its own.

The expanded format has received a more mixed response, with some critics questioning whether the story needs all eight episodes. Howell’s performance has earned praise, while certain additions, including a subplot involving a toxic meme account, have been criticized for dragging. The possibility of taking Carrie’s story beyond its familiar prom-night catastrophe has also drawn interest, although the reviews suggest that Flanagan’s larger ambitions won’t work for everyone. Despite its position among Flanagan’s television projects, the positive score means a clear majority of critics have responded favorably to his latest King adaptation.

Audiences will soon get to decide where it belongs in his filmography when all eight episodes of Carrie premiere October 7 on Prime Video.