Carrie

She just wanted a friend. They gave her a fight.

MysteryDrama

★ Shortlisted by Jdubs, MarcLevyTO

Programme: Primetime
Year: 2026
Runtime: 100 min
Country: Canada, United States of America
Language: English
Premiere: World Premiere

Misfit high-schooler Carrie White has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother. After her father's sudden death, Carrie finds herself contending with the challenges of attending public high school, a bullying scandal, and the emergence of mysterious telekinetic powers.

From the TIFF programme

Vanguard of character-driven horror Mike Flanagan (Life of Chuck, TIFF ’24) returns to episodic storytelling with this kinetic adaptation of Stephen King’s classic novel, about the cruelty faced by a sheltered young girl entering high school.

Stephen King’s 1974 novel Carrie is a cultural touchstone for good reason. The routine indignities of high school create a rich environment for stories about outsiders, hidden truths, and horror. After several previous collaborations including TIFF ’24’s People’s Choice Award winner The Life of Chuck, King and director Mike Flanagan bring Carrie to life five decades after the book’s debut.

As Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) walks the halls of her high school for the first time, her peers barely make eye contact, staring instead at the devices in their hands. Sheltered Carrie doesn’t have a smartphone, the parameters of her young life constricted by her paranoid and fervently religious mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan, Midnight Mass). Encouraged by the kindness of Principal Grayle (Matthew Lillard), Carrie hopes school will offer some freedoms. But her initial excitement is tempered by the wariness of her classmates Chris (Alison Thornton), Sue (Siena Agudong), and Tommy (Joel Oulette, Can I Get a Witness?, TIFF ’24; also at this year’s Festival in Seventeen). As pressure mounts, Carrie feels something growing inside her that she may not be able to control.

Grounded in the reality of high school as humiliation ritual, Carrie has resonated with readers for decades because of its vivid scenes: the locker room, the prom stage, the vulnerable teenage girl standing in the spotlight. Flanagan unearths new terrors from a familiar story, ensuring there is more to be afraid of, and more to feel.

GEOFF MACNAUGHTON

Content advisory: extreme violence, coarse language, mature themes