Carrie is one of Stephen King’s most beloved works: the story of an awkward teen girl who harnesses her psionic powers to give her bullies the biggest comeuppance ever. Mike Flanagan is one of the most popular horror maestros of the moment, known for his inventive takes on the classics. Will Flanagan’s new take on Carrie for Prime Video do King justice or fall into the morass of stinky SK adaptations?

CARRIE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: “911. What’s your emergency?” A young man, panting, explains there’s a “real bad fire” at Ewen High School. A small framed image of the inferno in question opens in the middle of the screen. As it expands, the blaze blows brighter and more calls come in, describing the catastrophe at Ewen High Prom. Soon, it spreads. More calls, more fires, and more dead bodies on the street. Then we cut to a documentary being shot about the 200 deaths and the “destruction of the entire town” that will unfold.

The Gist: Mike Flanagan knows we know the iconic climax of Carrie: she gets elected as prom queen as a prank just so the mean kids can douse her in pig blood. Then Carrie snaps and kills (almost) everyone. This version of Carrie juxtaposes talking heads in a documentary made about the event with dramatic flashbacks to what went down.

When doomsday prepper Ralph White (Tahmoh Penikett) dies in a freak accident on a LaMerk construction site, cops are shocked to discover his wife Margaret (Samantha Sloyen) and Carrietta (Summer H. Howell) cowering in a prayer closet in his home. A judge rules that Margaret has to get a menial job to make ends meet and her daughter, who prefers to go by “Carrie,” has to go to normal high school.

The ultra sheltered Carrie obviously doesn’t fit in with her peers, but she quickly becomes a target for rich girl Christine Hargensen (Alison Thornton), who is struggling at home while her parents’ marriage implodes. Chris’s best friend Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) is torn between being annoyed by Carrie’s quirks and feeling bad for the girl. By the end of the first episode, Carrie gets her first period, but doesn’t understand what’s happening. Christine leads the other girls, including Sue, in bullying the confused and terrified girl. Carrie snaps and the lights go out.

Then? A classic Mike Flanagan twist that we won’t spoil.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? This feels like Mike Flanagan taking on both Stephen King and the darker side of YA, like 13 Reasons Why.

Our Take: Once again Mike Flanagan has managed to take an iconic horror property and infuse it with his own special sauce. Sure, he’s brought back faves from his group of repertory players — Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyen, and Matthew Lillard, to name a few — but he’s also added fun new twists like the documentary format and a final reveal that this is far more than just a straight Carrie adaptation.

We were captivated by Summer H. Howell’s interpretation of Carrie as a sweet, curious innocent let loose upon a cruel world. It’s hard not to root for her even if we know that she eventually transforms into a violent force. Similarly, Carrie’s mother isn’t quite the two-dimensional villain we expected. There’s real love between mother and daughter and Margaret’s criticisms of modern life aren’t wholly off-base. (Just mostly.)

Performance Worth Watching: Mike Flanagan joints are known for their incredible ensembles and here Alison Thornton stands out as a new kind of vision of a mean girl. Yes, she’s a cruel blonde vixen, but there’s real hurt in her eyes (and soul).  

Sex And Skin: Mostly just kissing and heavy petting against the lockers so far.

Parting Shot: Sue Snell, in her documentary confessional, explains everyone asks about the kids who died and they ask about Carrie. “But nobody asks about [SPOILER].”

Our Call: Mike Flanagan has cooked up another corker of a horror remix. STREAM IT!

Meghan O’Keefe is Senior Critic at Decider.