Shy 16-year-old Carrie White lives with her fanatically religious mother, Margaret. Carrie is unpopular at school and often bullied by her classmates. When Carrie has her period while taking a shower in school, her mother tells her the menstruation was caused by sin. Margaret locks Carrie in an altar-like “prayer closet” to seek forgiveness. The wicked classmates devise a prank to torment Carrie. They slaughter a pig and drain its blood. At the gym during the high school prom, they release the blood from the container and it drenches Carrie. With her telekinesis power, Carrie is able to seal the exits of the gym and set it on fire. Margaret, seeing Carrie as a demon, tries to stab her with a kitchen knife. But Carrie, utilizing her superpowers, is able to survive this terror.