Carrie (2013 film)
A modern re-imagining of Stephen King's novel about a bullied telekinetic girl.
Kimberly Peirce directed this 2013 American supernatural horror film, a remake of the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's novel and the fourth installment in the franchise. Chloë Grace Moretz plays the outcast Carrie White, with Julianne Moore as her religious mother.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Kimberly Peirce
- Producer
- Kevin Misher
- Screenplay
- Lawrence D. Cohen, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
- Based on
- Carrie, Stephen King
- Starring
- Chloë Grace Moretz
- Judy Greer
- Portia Doubleday
- Julianne Moore
- Music
- Marco Beltrami
- Cinematography
- Steve Yedlin
- Editing
- Lee Percy; Nancy Richardson
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Carrie White is a quiet and isolated teenager attending Ewen High School in Maine. During a shower after gym class, she gets her first period and, terrified she is dying, runs out screaming for assistance. Her classmates mock her by tossing tampons and pads in her direction. The bully Chris Hargensen films the scene with her phone and posts it on YouTube. Gym teacher Miss Rita Desjardin calms Carrie down and brings her home to her mother, Margaret White, a disturbed religious extremist who views menstruation as sinful. Margaret orders Carrie to stop showering with the other girls; when Carrie refuses, Margaret strikes her with a Bible and confines her in a prayer closet. As Carrie cries out, a split forms in the door and the crucifix inside starts dripping blood. Carrie then starts developing stronger telekinetic powers and studies how to control them. Miss Desjardin gives the girls who tormented Carrie a choice: attend detention for the whole week or face suspension, which would bar them from the prom. Chris alone rejects the offer and gets suspended. Feeling guilty for her involvement, Sue Snell asks her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to invite Carrie to the prom. Carrie agrees and sews her own dress. Margaret tries to stop Carrie from leaving, but Carrie uses her telekinesis to lock her mother in the closet. At the prom, Chris and her boyfriend Billy Nolan have their friends Tina and Jackie secretly stuff the ballot box so that Carrie and Tommy are named prom queen and king. Back home, Sue gets a text from Chris gloating about the prank and drives to the school, arriving just as Carrie and Tommy are about to be crowned. Sue spots a bucket of blood hanging above Carrie and tries to alert someone, but Desjardin shuts her out of the gym, thinking Sue intends to harm Carrie.
Production
In May 2011, MGM and Screen Gems revealed plans for a new film version of Carrie. Stephen King questioned the need for a remake given the original's quality, and proposed Lindsay Lohan for the lead. Sissy Spacek, the original Carrie, supported that casting choice. MGM's Jonathan Glickman pointed to improved special effects and bullying as a current issue as reasons for the project. The studios aimed for an R rating and brought in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who had adapted King's The Stand as a comic, to write a script closer to the novel than the 1976 film. He ended up sharing credit with that film's writer, Lawrence D. Cohen. In January 2012, Kimberly Peirce signed on to direct after getting Brian De Palma's approval. Peirce, drawn to themes of misfits and power, worked with producer Kevin Misher to stay true to the book rather than repeat De Palma's version. They deepened the mother-daughter bond, gave Sue and Chris more background, added a cyberbullying element, and let Carrie gain greater command of her telekinesis. Peirce saw the story as a superhero origin tale, where Carrie discovers her abilities, learns to control them, and then loses that control.
Release
The original release date was March 15, 2013, but was moved to October 18, 2013, with reshoots cited as the reason. Some journalists speculated the delay was to capitalize on Halloween season and to avoid releasing content concerning violence in schools after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Moretz told Fangoria that reshoots added three extra scenes with Julianne Moore to make the movie deeper and darker. Sony held a "First Look" event at the New York Comic Con on October 13, 2013, allowing attendees to view the film prior to release. Trailers included a phone number offering promotions and a recording of a simulated encounter with characters. Two weeks before release, the studio reportedly held test screenings showing four different alternate endings and asked viewers to pick their favorite. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 14, 2014, featuring an alternative opening and ending and nine deleted scenes. The alternative opening shows a young Carrie discussing with a teenage neighbor that Margaret believes women with breasts are sinful; stones then rain only on the White household. On March 19, 2024, Shout! Factory released an Ultra HD Blu-ray offering only the theatrical cut.
Reception
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 51% approval rating with an average rating of 5.49/10 based on 184 reviews, with the critical consensus calling it "woefully unnecessary." On Metacritic, it scored a 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−. Kevin C. Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave a favorable review, calling it "as good a Carrie remake as possible." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "a well-made, highly satisfying and not particularly deep high school revenge movie." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote that "something's missing from this well-made venture." Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave it three out of five stars, noting it "doesn't try to hip up King's basic, often slow story." Matt Zoller Seitz, writing on Roger Ebert's website, awarded the film three out of four stars, praising the portrayal of Carrie and Margaret's relationship and concluding, "The first Carrie was horror. This is tragedy."
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Carrie (2013 film)?
Carrie stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Judy Greer, Portia Doubleday and Julianne Moore.
Who composed the music for Carrie (2013 film)?
The music for Carrie was composed by Marco Beltrami.
How long is Carrie (2013 film)?
Carrie has a running time of 99 minutes.
How much did Carrie (2013 film) earn at the box office?
Carrie grossed $84.8 million.
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