The Institute is based on King’s book of the same name from 2019 and runs for 8 episodes. It tells the story of how Luke Ellis, a 12-year-old boy from Minneapolis who can move objects with his mind, is kidnapped from his home and wakes up in a different room but one that looks exactly like his room at home. The new room is in something called The Institute. It takes some time before we understand what The Institute is, but slowly we learn that through the powers that the kids possess, the people at The Institute can eliminate people who mean to commit horrible crimes or cause destruction. But it’s not that easy. To do it, they need to get the kids fully in touch with their powers, something they do in the front part of The Institute. Then, once they are, they move them to the back part where they get to use their powers. But what no one is telling them is that even though it’s for something good, it's not treating the kids well. In fact, it's really bad for them.

As Luke Ellis we see Joe Freeman, who is a new face to me. He is joined by Kalisha Benson (played by Simone Miller) and a few other kids that come and go during the episodes. We also see Mary-Louise Parker as the head of The Institute. Along with her staff, she runs the place in a strict and stern way.

Ben Barnes plays Tim Jameson, a cop from the city who has moved out to the countryside to get away from an awful thing that happened to him. He and police officer Wendy Gullickson (Hannah Galway) end up trying to save the kids.

The series follows King’s book pretty well. There are differences, yes, and they have shortened or removed some scenes, but the feel of the story is still there and all in all I enjoyed it. Yes, some of the actors overplay their roles, and some of the characters feel a bit over the top. Tony is one example. As one of The Institute’s orderlies, he is pretty rough with the kids and maybe that’s not all that believable. Julian Richings plays Stackhouse, The Institute’s head of security, and Robert Joy plays the doctor in charge, and they are both a bit too much—both in how they act and how they look.

One thing that I reacted to—and here I have to confess that I don’t remember how this is handled in the book (I haven’t read it since it was released)—is that no one seems surprised that the kids have all these powers. Granted that we don’t get to see much of how their relationship is with their parents outside of The Institute besides Luke, but when he tips a plate over in a restaurant, his parents don’t seem particularly surprised. Do they think it’s normal? Have they gotten used to it or what? Not even the kids, when they meet in The Institute, seem to be surprised that they are there or why.

But if you can accept the flaws, all in all it’s a pretty good series. There have been talks about a second season, but that is definitely something we could do without. Both because it would probably be pretty much the same, but also because we do get an ending in the last episode that I’m very happy with. So, stop while you’re on top and be happy with that.

The Institute is well worth the time it takes to watch it. Will I re-watch it? Maybe, but not necessarily.