‘Carrie’ Has Power but Doesn’t Quite Stick the Landing

Since it was first announced, the question attached to Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series has always been “why?” A Stephen King adaptation isn’t a stretch for Flanagan. But Carrie has already hit the screen multiple times, with all subsequent versions paling in comparison to Brian De Palma’s 1976 feature. Its story of a telekinetic teen pushed over the edge by bullies is so entrenched in pop culture that Carrie White’s blood-drenched prom dress is now a Halloween costume cliche.

Flanagan is…