Decent teen drama

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2006)

Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a teenager with a hellish life, routinely attacked by tormentors (Nancy Allen, PJ Soles) at school and abused by her zealous mother (Piper Laurie) at home.
Usually billed as a horror movie, this isn't very scary. There's really no villain here. The tormentors aren't all bad, and Carrie's mother is only doing what she thinks will prevent Carrie from suffering eternal damnation.
It fares much better as a drama. You truly feel Carrie's pain, and the way Carrie's treated is disturbing, but not really scary.
But even as a drama, it doesn't fully succeed. The character development is sketchy and superficial, the psychological and emotional states of the characters are never fully realized, and there's nothing biting or thought-provoking.
The performances are very good. Both Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie deserved their Oscar nominations. Another standout is Amy Irving, as a fellow student who takes pity on Carrie. Irving's dream sequence at the end is the best part of the movie (I'm not going to spoil the scene for you, you'll have to watch it yourself and be amazed).