Filmmaker Mike Flanagan has been praised as a modern master of horror filmmaking, and he’s earned that reputation by (often loosely) adapting the great horror authors: Shirley Jackson with “The Haunting of Hill House,” Edgar Allan Poe with “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and a close, ongoing creative relationship with Stephen King. Flanagan’s latest project turned King’s novel “Carrie” into a TV series, making him the latest of many to adapt “Carrie.”
Flanagan’s next movie, due out in March 2027, is — like “Carrie” — another entry in a much-revisited horror franchise: “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” a new sequel to “The Exorcist” starring Scarlett Johansson and Chiwetel Ejiofor. “Martyrs” is a pivot for the “Exorcist” franchise after David Gordon Green’s poorly-received 2023 film, “The Exorcist: Believer.”
“The Exorcist: Believer” attempted to do what Green had previously done with “Halloween” — ignore all except the first film and bring back the female lead (here, Ellen Burstyn) for a legacy sequel. “Martyrs” instead appears to be an original story, and one inspired more by “The Exorcist III,” which combined the religious horror with a serial killer mystery.
The Exorcist III was written and directed
“The Exorcist III” was written and directed by William Peter Blatty, author of the original “The Exorcist” novel. Flanagan’s “Carrie” includes a nod to Blatty, as well; in Episode 2, “Foreign Language,” around the 31:12 time mark, a Ewen High student can be seen reading “The Exorcist” in the school library. This Easter egg fits the episode’s theme of Carrie (Summer H. Howell) broadening her mind with books.
The books featured in Carrie aren’t mere Easter eggs
One of the many changes that “Carrie” makes from the novel is that Carrie has been homeschooled her whole life. She loves reading, but her mother Margaret (Samantha Sloyan) keeps the available books heavily restricted. In Episode 1, “First Period,” when Carrie first arrives at Ewen High, she tries to make some friends by quoting “Peter Pan” author J.M. Barrie’s “The Little White Bird” — “Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always try to be a little kinder than is necessary?”
The other kids, particularly Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton) don’t recognize the quote and look at Carrie with dismissive confusion. But in “Foreign Language,” Carrie and guidance counselor Peter Morton (Tim Bagley) break the ice by quoting books to each other, then he introduces her to the school library. (Carrie thinks it’s huge, Morton recognizes it as underfunded.)
Carrie takes a pile of five books, all
Carrie takes a pile of five books, all of which relate to her coming of age as a woman or breaking free of her mother’s tight leash: Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” and Malinda Lao’s “Last Night at the Telegraph Club.”
That selection isn’t just relevant to Carrie’s character. All five of those are books frequently banned by schools for featuring topics that Margaret White-esque parents don’t want their kids to learn about: sexuality, racism, anti-authoritarianism, etc. One of Mike Flanagan’s goals with “Carrie” was exploring modern hot button issues in the context of this classic story. “Carrie” understands Margaret White is the type of parent who’d rail against the school to ban books, so Carrie’s eager literacy is another shape the conflict with her mother takes.
