Carrie (2013 film)

Plot Summary

The film follows Carrie White, a shy and bullied high school student in Maine who lives under the oppressive control of her fanatically religious mother, Margaret. After experiencing her first period in a school shower, Carrie is mercilessly mocked by her classmates, with bully Chris Hargensen recording the incident on her cell phone and uploading it to YouTube. This public humiliation awakens latent telekinetic powers within Carrie, which she begins to research and learn to control. Seeking redemption for her part in the bullying, popular student Sue Snell convinces her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to invite Carrie to the senior prom, an act of kindness that sets the final tragedy in motion.

Carrie's mother tries to prevent her from attending, believing the event is sinful, but Carrie uses her growing powers to lock Margaret in a prayer closet. At the prom, Carrie and Tommy are crowned king and queen as part of a cruel prank orchestrated by Chris and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan. They dump a bucket of pig's blood on Carrie and replay the shower room video on large screens, triggering a catastrophic telekinetic rampage. Carrie destroys the school gym, killing many students and Tommy, and causes an electrical fire that burns the building to the ground as she walks away.

Chris and Billy attempt to flee, but Carrie uses her powers to crash their car, killing Billy, and then lifts and throws the vehicle into a gas station, killing Chris. Carrie returns home and takes a bath, where a tearful confrontation with her mother reveals Margaret was raped by Carrie's father. Margaret stabs Carrie, believing she must kill her daughter to prevent demonic possession, but Carrie kills her mother with multiple sharp tools using telekinesis. Hysterical, Carrie makes stones rain from the sky to crush the house, and when Sue arrives, Carrie senses Sue is pregnant, protects her, and throws her to safety as the house collapses, apparently killing Carrie.

In the theatrical ending, after giving her testimony in court regarding the prom incident, Sue visits Carrie and Margaret's graves and places white roses by the headstone. As she leaves, the gravestone begins to break, and an enraged scream is heard, alluding that Carrie may have somehow survived. An alternate ending included on the Blu-ray shows Sue suddenly feeling pain from her pregnancy and beginning to go into labour at the hospital. As Sue struggles to give birth, Carrie's bloody hand suddenly emerges and grabs Sue's arm. Sue screams loudly as she wakes up in her own bedroom with her mother comforting her and telling her that her nightmare is over.

Development and Creative Vision

In May 2011, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Screen Gems announced they were producing a new film remake of Carrie. Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM's film division, cited two primary reasons for the remake: the significant advances in special effects since the 1976 film, and the contemporary prevalence of bullying as a national crisis. The studios committed to making an R-rated film from the outset and hired Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who had previously adapted King's The Stand into a comic book, to write a screenplay that would deliver a more faithful adaptation of King's novel. Aguirre-Sacasa ultimately shared screenwriting credit with Lawrence D. Cohen, who wrote the 1976 film.

Upon hearing of the new adaptation, author Stephen King remarked, "The real question is why, when the original was so good?" He suggested Lindsay Lohan for the main role, stating it would be fun to cast. Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie in the 1976 film, expressed approval of the potential casting of Lohan, noting she was flattered they were casting someone who looked like her. Director Kimberly Peirce was announced in January 2012, agreeing to direct after receiving Brian De Palma's blessing. Peirce, a fan of the novel and De Palma's film, saw the material as aligning with her own cinematic interests in misfits, power, humiliation, and violence.

Peirce and producer Kevin Misher sought to make a film more faithful to the book rather than a retread of De Palma's version. Key changes included a deeper focus on the mother-daughter relationship as the emotional heart of the film, more character development for Sue Snell and Chris Hargensen, and the integration of cyberbullying via cell phone videos and YouTube to modernize the story. Peirce specifically conceived of her adaptation as a superhero origin story, wanting to explore when Carrie got her powers and how she gained and then lost control of them. She aimed to give Carrie more agency in exploring her telekinesis before the prom tragedy.

Casting and Filming in Canada

In March 2012, the role of Carrie White was offered to Chloë Grace Moretz, who accepted. Julianne Moore was cast as Margaret White, bringing a new intensity to the role of the fanatical mother. The supporting cast was filled out in May 2012 with Judy Greer as the sympathetic gym teacher Miss Desjardin, Portia Doubleday as the cruel Chris Hargensen, and Gabriella Wilde as Sue Snell. Ansel Elgort was cast as Tommy Ross and Alex Russell as Billy Nolan, marking one of Elgort's early film roles before his rise to fame.

Principal photography took place in mid-2012 entirely within the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Locations included the cities of Mississauga and Etobicoke, where local schools and neighbourhoods stood in for the fictional Maine setting. The production utilized Arri Alexa cameras for filming. For the climactic prom scene where Carrie unleashes her full telekinetic fury, Peirce and her visual effects team used atomic bomb test footage from the 1950s and 1960s as a reference to model the energy waves radiating from Carrie, aiming for a unique and powerful visual effect distinct from earlier adaptations.

Principal photography for the film took place in mid-2012 in the Greater Toronto Area, with locations including Mississauga and Etobicoke. The original release date was March 15, 2013, but in January 2013, the release date was moved to October 18, 2013, with reshoots cited by the studio as the reason for the delay. The reshoots added three extra scenes with Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore to make the movie even deeper and darker. They prolonged a couple of scenes that needed to have an extra moment or an extra beat just to make it even deeper.

Release Strategy and Marketing

The original release date was set for March 15, 2013, with a teaser trailer released on October 15, 2012. However, in January 2013, the release was delayed to October 18, 2013. The studio officially cited reshoots as the reason for the delay. Some journalists speculated the delay was also motivated by a desire not to release a film concerning school violence so soon after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and to better capitalize on the box office potential of the Halloween season. Moretz confirmed the reshoots added material to make the movie deeper, darker, and more intense.

Marketing campaigns were extensive. Sony held a "First Look" event at New York Comic Con on October 13, 2013, allowing attendees to view the film early, followed by a panel with cast and crew. Trailers for the film included a promotional phone number that offered callers a simulated encounter with characters from the film. Two weeks prior to release, the studio held test screenings showing four different alternate endings and asked audiences to pick their favourite. The film held its world premiere at the Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles on October 7, 2013, before its wide release.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 14, 2014. The home media release featured significant bonus content, including an alternative opening, the alternate nightmare ending, and nine deleted scenes. The alternative opening shows a young Carrie discussing sin with a neighbour before stones rain on her house. On March 19, 2024, Shout! Factory released an Ultra HD Blu-ray of the film, but it contained only the theatrical cut, not the extended or alternate material.

Critical Reception and Analysis

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 51% approval rating with an average score of 5.49/10 based on 184 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "It has a talented cast, but Kimberly Peirce's 'reimagining' of Brian De Palma's horror classic finds little new in the Stephen King novel, and feels woefully unnecessary." On Metacritic, it scored 53 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B− on an A+ to F scale, suggesting a lukewarm audience response.

Many reviews praised the cast. Kevin C. Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called the reboot "as good a Carrie remake as possible," while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle found it a "well-made, highly satisfying" high school revenge movie. Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote the acting was strong, with Judy Greer a welcome presence, but felt something surprising was missing. Matt Zoller Seitz, in a positive review for Roger Ebert's website, awarded three stars, praising the portrayal of the mother-daughter relationship and calling the film a tragedy rather than pure horror.

Negative criticism often centred on the film's lack of originality and effective scares. A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a C−, criticizing Moretz's Carrie as "too adjusted" and lamenting the film as "bloodless." Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News noted the film underplayed Margaret's fanaticism and had only glancing moments of Carrie discovering her powers. Wesley Morris of Grantland wrote that Peirce seemed caught between challenging the material and not wanting to alienate the studio or audience, resulting in an awkward position for the director.

Box Office Performance

Carrie opened in North American theatres on October 18, 2013. Sony initially estimated an opening weekend revenue between $16 million and $18 million, while other analysts predicted a higher range of $24 million to $28 million due to the Halloween season. The film ultimately earned $16.1 million in its opening weekend, placing it at number three at the box office behind Gravity and Captain Phillips, which were in their second and third weeks of release respectively. By the end of its first week, the film's domestic gross reached $20.1 million.

The film experienced significant week-to-week drops in attendance. In its second weekend, it slipped 62.8% to sixth place, earning $5.9 million. In its third weekend, it fell another 43.2% to ninth place with $3.4 million. At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $35.3 million in North America and $49.5 million in other international markets. It ranked as the 85th highest-grossing film of 2013 in the United States.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

The alternate ending featured on the Blu-ray, where Sue gives birth and is grabbed by Carrie's hand before waking from a nightmare, was the preferred ending of director Kimberly Peirce and star Chloë Grace Moretz. In a 2014 interview, Peirce stated she believed this coda was important, providing something shocking and fun that kept with the story. She said the ending was not included in the theatrical release because the people with the power overruled it. Some critics expressed that this nightmare ending would have been a better, scarier finale and also functioned as a direct reference to the famous jump-scare ending of De Palma's 1976 film.

The home media release also included an alternate opening scene. In it, a young Carrie has a discussion with her teenage neighbour about bodies and sin, prompting Margaret to intervene. Suddenly, stones begin to rain down only on the White household, which Margaret interprets as a sign from God. This scene establishes Carrie's powers manifesting in childhood, a detail from King's novel. Nine other deleted scenes were included, providing further character moments and extensions of existing sequences that were trimmed for pacing.

The film's original teaser trailer, released in October 2012, suggested a more faithful adaptation of King's novel than the final product. It featured voiceovers recalling the White Commission framing device from the book and showed a camera zooming out on a destroyed, burning town. This material was largely absent from the theatrical cut, leading some fans to believe a longer, more novel-accurate version existed. Reports of further excised material prompted fans to create a petition for MGM to release a director's cut of the film, though one has never been officially issued.

Legacy and Future of the Franchise

The 2013 film is the third film adaptation and a remake of the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel and the fourth film in the Carrie franchise. The film is a modern re-imagining of King's novel. Among the changes the filmmakers added was a focus on the mother-daughter relationship as the heart of the film and a plot line involving cyberbullying to modernize the story. The film received mixed reviews, with critics calling it "unnecessary" and criticizing the lack of originality and scares, though they praised the modern updates and cast.

The franchise continues to be active, with a new television adaptation scheduled for release in 2026. This upcoming series is being developed by horror specialist Mike Flanagan for Amazon Prime Video. Early promotional material and commentary suggest Flanagan's version aims to be a more thorough and thematic reimagining of King's novel. Commentators have noted that this 2026 series seeks to address the narrative shortcomings and lack of innovation that critics identified in the 2013 remake, potentially offering a definitive adaptation for a new era. The 2013 film thus remains a notable, if divisive, entry in the ongoing history of Stephen King's Carrie.

Questions about Carrie (2013 film)

Where was the 2013 Carrie movie filmed?

Principal photography for Carrie (2013) took place in mid-2012 in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Specific filming locations included the cities of Mississauga and Etobicoke. The production used these Canadian locations to stand in for the fictional setting of the story in Maine, United States. The Canadian shoot allowed for controlled environments for the complex prom sequence and the destruction of the White household.

How does the 2013 Carrie ending differ from the original?

The theatrical ending of the 2013 film shows Sue Snell placing roses on Carrie's grave, after which the headstone cracks and a scream is heard, implying Carrie may have survived. This differs from the 1976 film's famous nightmare jump-scare ending. The 2013 film's Blu-ray includes an alternate ending where Sue has a nightmare of giving birth and being grabbed by Carrie's hand, which director Kimberly Peirce preferred but was overruled by the studio. Some critics felt this alternate ending was a stronger reference to De Palma's film.

What did critics say about the Carrie 2013 remake?

Critical reception was mixed. The film holds a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus calling it a talented but unnecessary remake that lacked originality and scares. Reviewers frequently praised the performances of Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore and the modern updates to the bullying story, but many felt it did not improve upon or meaningfully differentiate itself from Brian De Palma's 1976 classic. Metacritic gave it a score of 53, indicating mixed or average reviews.

Is there going to be another Carrie adaptation?

Yes, a new television adaptation of Carrie is in development and scheduled for release in 2026. This series is being created by Mike Flanagan for Amazon Prime Video under Amazon MGM Studios. Early promotional material and commentary suggest it aims to be a more comprehensive and thematic reimagining of Stephen King's novel, seeking to address critiques of the 2013 film's lack of innovation. It is promoted as a potential definitive adaptation for a new generation.

Was the 2013 Carrie movie a box office success?

The 2013 film Carrie was a modest commercial success. It grossed $84.8 million worldwide at the box office. Its North American opening weekend earned $16.1 million, placing it third behind films like Gravity and Captain Phillips. While it turned a profit, it was not a major blockbuster, finishing as the 85th highest-grossing film in the United States for 2013. The film experienced significant weekly drops in attendance after its debut, slipping 62.8 percent in its second week. Overall, its financial performance was considered solid but not exceptional.

Why was the Carrie 2013 release date delayed?

The Carrie 2013 release date was delayed from March 15, 2013, to October 18, 2013. The studio officially cited the need for reshoots as the reason for the delay. Some journalists speculated the move was also intended to capitalize on the Halloween season's box office potential. Furthermore, there was speculation that studios were hesitant to release a film featuring school violence so soon after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Actress Chloë Grace Moretz confirmed that reshoots added extra scenes to make the film deeper and darker, not to cut content but to enhance its intensity.

Sources: Wikipedia and current public reporting, checked by the Yadude Books desk. Last updated 2026-10-23.