Was the addition of cyberbullying to the 2026 adaptation of Stephen King’s “Carrie” a good thing?
On Oct. 7, 2026, Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of “Carrie” came out on Prime Video. This eight-episode miniseries took the internet by storm. It followed the bones of King’s original book: a young homeschooled girl named Carrie White struggling through her first year at public high school. While enduring bullying, she finds out she has telekinetic powers.
Flanagan definitely took some creative liberties. The initial cause of the bullying is the same: Carrie gets her first period in the locker room and thinks she is dying; however, it is the way the bullying is carried out that is different. In the book, the bullying is kept at school. In the hallways and at gym class, Carrie is called names and teased, but in the 2026 adaptation, the bullying takes place online through an anonymous Instagram account where a video of Carrie in the locker room is posted.
The 2026 adaptation takes place in the present day instead of 1974, so it makes sense that Carrie is bullied differently. So why set it now? Why not set it in 1974 when the book came out? What does it add to the story, and how does it change it? Well, I believe Flanagan was trying to point out the unique kind of bullying that can happen online. Online bullying does two things: it protects the bully, and it follows the bullied around. In an interview with Time, Flanagan talked about how the scene in the locker room feels very different when all the other girls have their phones out recording. The 1974 Carrie White could still go home and get away from her bullies, but in this adaptation there is no refuge.
Along with the addition of cyberbullying, the change in time period also allows other aspects of modern high school to be brought into the series. During Carrie’s first day at school, she has to walk through the metal detectors with the rest of the school, and later that day there is an active shooter drill. These scenes add another layer of distress and realism to the show. King’s 1974 Carrie is going to a very different school than Flanagan’s 2026 Carrie. The creative choice of the time period change shifts the core of the story to the consequences of censorship and social media.
I think that this modern “Carrie” is an amazing take on the book. Flanagan took an already strong and powerful character and put her up against the things thousands of American teenagers are fearing today. This adaptation would have still been successful if it had taken place in 1974, but it wouldn’t have felt so real and so probable, because though there are no teenagers out there with telekinetic powers, there are many who experience online bullying and even more who fear school shootings. So, in answer to my original question, the change in time was not just good for adaptation; it was great.
