Reviewing "Carrie (2013)": A glossy and well-acted but ultimately unnecessary remake

This is a review of Carrie (2013), the 2013 remake adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novel. It stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie White, a troubled teenager who discovers that she has telekinetic powers, while having to contend with an abusive mother and school bullies. The film also stars Julianne Moore as Margaret White, Carrie's abusive mother and a religious fanatic; and Judy Greer played Miss Desjardin, Carrie's supportive gym teacher. Directed by Kimberly Peirce, the film is competently shot and the acting is good, but it just seems superfluous at times and comes off as a retread of well-worn territory.

Regarding the acting, Chloe Grace Moretz was a perfectly fine Carrie White, showing an apt level of vulnerability needed for the character and keeping that sense all throughout the film, even as she gains some more agency and confidence through her development of her powers. However, I have noticed (as have many others) that Moretz seemed a little too picture-perfect, a little too glamorously-portrayed to be regarded as a target ripe for bullying. It must be said that in real life, perfectly normal-looking people can and do get bullied, but in film, audience members usually expect some level of at least seeming unattractiveness from victims of bullying, while Moretz just seemed too attractive to be believable as someone being ostracized and bullied, even with her freak-out over her first period taken into consideration.Other than that, her performance was very good. Julianne Moore was a great deranged Margaret White, clearly having a fun time playing a disturbed religious fanatic. The actors and actresses who played the bullies weren't given much to do other than look attractive, act evil and condescending, and occasionally have doubts before doubling down on their vicious acts. The only exception is Sue, played by Gabriella Wilde, who regrets her part in the initial bullying and quickly tries to do her best to make amends to Carrie. She is shown as sympathetic yet helpless and rather ineffectual. Overall, the acting in the film was pretty good.

Regarding the plot, which hewed closely to the original novel, it concerns Carrie discovering her telekinetic powers amidst a tragic coming-of-age story, being bullied by popular girls at school and suffering at the hands of an abusive and overbearing single mother who has obsessively religious beliefs. However, because of this, it doesn't really do anything new and aside from a setting update into the late 2000s/the early 2010s, there isn't much of anything original here, nothing the novel and its older adaptations haven't already covered.

Overall, the film was competently made, being well-shot and with good editing, good acting, but had some bad special effects and a tired plot that comes off as a complete retread without adding much to the story.

Score: 7/10