The Power of The Shy Girl: How Haute Freddy Finds a Voice in Carrie
BY MANOLA RUBIRALTA
On October 7th, director Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of the iconic horror novel Carrie premiered on Prime Video, bringing a modern retelling of the 1974 story to the screen. Among the series' most memorable musical choices is ‘Shy Girl’ by Los Angeles-based baroque-pop duo, Haute Freddy. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that as soon as they heard a demo of the then-unreleased track, the Carrie team rewrote the show’s ending to incorporate it. The result is a striking meeting of music and storytelling, which effectively captures Carrie’s spirit alongside the surprising liberation of her breaking point.
Throughout the series, a sheltered Carrie is introduced to the cruelty of bullying, both at school and online. She is an easy target to her tormentors– particularly, to her classmate Chris Hargensen– and she becomes increasingly isolated. As the story unfolds, instrumental snippets of ‘Shy Girl’ weave through the narrative, foreshadowing its key role in the show’s finale.
The story reaches its climax at the Ewen High School prom. In a prank rigged by Hargensen, Carrie is crowned prom queen, only to be drenched by buckets of pig’s blood. Completely humiliated, Carrie unleashes her telekinetic powers against her tormentors, classmates, and teachers. At once, the power dynamic is turned on its head, leading to a striking sequence: Carrie, now liberated from her tormentors, dances down the street to ‘Shy Girl,’ while the town descends into destruction. After a life of being controlled, mocked, and underestimated, Carrie finally takes control of her story.
As a character who’s grown up secluded from society, Carrie represents human innocence in its purest form. At the show’s beginning, Carrie has not yet experienced the pressures of social media or the social pressures to which young women are constantly exposed in today’s society. Instead, these pressures are thrust upon her when she enters high school, causing her intense confusion and anxiety. As the series’ token ‘shy girl,’ Carrie is constantly taken advantage of; she becomes an object on which others project their insecurities.
Yet Haute Freddy’s track rejects the straightforward characterization of the shy girl as a victim. In conversation with tmrw, Haute Freddy highlights how ‘Shy Girl’ was created from a place of empowerment: ‘We wrote “Shy Girl” as a kind of unfiltered permission slip—for ourselves and anyone who’s ever felt the need to shrink themselves to fit in.’ The song’s lyrics emphasise Carrie’s transformation, asking when the ‘shy girl’ will ‘run the whole damn world.’ In the same way, Carrie, once an overlooked teenage girl, becomes a powerful force, now impossible to ignore. References to a ‘madness in [her] eyes’ emphasises the unsettling shift in her character: the anger Carrie has been forced to suppress becomes impossible to contain.
Similarly, the song’s instrumental reflects this shift, beginning with an ethereal tone and evolving to a synth-pop beat. On top of this, the backing vocals, which continually repeat the chorus, have a dream-like, floating quality. The listener’s experience is that of levitating; sonically, the piece creates a sense of new beginnings, leaving behind the label of a shy girl. In creating this song, Haute Freddy allows any listener to become Carrie, dancing in the streets to the tune of their own independence.
This song is an anthem for all girls who have been underestimated, encouraging them to embrace their identities rather than shrinking themselves to fit others’ expectations. Flanagan and Haute Freddy enter a wider conversation on the role of ‘the bully’ and ‘the victim,’ exploring how ‘shy girls’ like Carrie can overcome these labels by standing up for themselves. While here, this liberation takes a destructive form, the channeling of Carrie’s vulnerability into power makes this scene extremely compelling.
At the beginning of the series, Carrie is an innocent, moldable character: the characters around her don’t take her seriously, seeing her instead as an object for their own entertainment. Because of this, she begins to internalise her innocence and is left feeling helpless. Carrie becomes the school’s shy girl– the token of fragility. However, as the season progresses, Carrie gradually becomes aware of her power over this vulnerability. In the climactic destruction scene, Carrie chooses what it means to be a ‘shy girl’ and ultimately reclaims her autonomy. Haute Freddy’s song follows Carrie’s journey, showing the audience that there is no shame in being a shy girl– rather, it’s up to you to decide the shy girl’s fate.
Cover Photo: Prime Video, Amazon Content Services LLC, 2026