New Stephen King Show ‘The Institute’ Is A Much Slower, Cerebral Version Of ‘Stranger Things’

Stop if you have heard this before: children with special abilities get locked up in a facility where they’re experimented upon by cruel adults who want to harness their power for their own nefarious world-changing purposes.

Sounds a lot like what Eleven and her pals at the Hawkins National Laboratory experienced in Stranger Things, right?

Well, it’s also the plot of MGM+’s The Institute, based on the 2019 Stephen King novel of the same name. In this story, teenager Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) gets chucked into a mysterious facility in a rural part of Maine (of course). Run by Ms. Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker), this place harbors other gifted youngsters like Luke, who possess telekinetic or telepathy powers. Unfortunately, these children are tortured in an effort to lure out the full potential of their abilities. Why? Shh.. No spoilers here. In a nearby town, night knocker Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes) grows weary of the eerie events occurring around him and starts his own investigation.

‘The Institute’ takes its time to get going

Look, The Institute doesn’t feature Demogorgons or Vecna as its threats. The villains here are the adults who exploit the children inside the facility and manipulate the events outside of it. Resultantly, there are two concurrent storylines taking place: Luke and Tim’s. Their stories intersect in the end, but it takes a while to get there.

That’s possibly the biggest issue with The Institute: its pacing – or to be more specific, the point where it sparks to life. While the show is only eight episodes long, the early stages drag. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see people give up on the show after the first two episodes, since it’s almost two hours of nothingness. Yes, the mystery introduces itself out of the gate, but the gap between intrigue and boredom is far too close from comfort.

That being said, stick with it. Once the viewer clears the initial stretch of no man’s land, The Institute picks up steam and mesmerizes with thrilling twists and tenacious turns that reveal the depravity of what’s actually taking place. That’s where the series starts to become a twisted merger of Stranger Things and American Horror Story: Asylum, delivering on its potential.

Ben Barnes and the young cast make the show worthwhile

The young cast provides some of the strongest performances in The Institute. Joe Freeman owns the screen as Luke Ellis, with a confident portrayal of a nuanced character that’s likely to lead to further major roles in the future. Viggo Hanvelt is also a tremendous talent beyond his young years as the outstanding Avery, while Simone Miller steals several scenes as the compelling Kalisha and Fionn Laird convinces as the rebellious but sensible Nick.

Surprisingly, a lot of the adult cast members don’t reach the heights of their younger counterparts. Except for Ben Barnes. Time and time again, Barnes confirms that Hollywood is overlooking one of the best working actors today by not casting him in bigger parts or franchises. Barnes brings a vulnerability and haunted quality to Tim that makes an immediate standout character in a deluge of ordinary. In fact, if anyone plans on remaking The Shining anytime soon, Barnes would make an excellent choice as Jack Torrance – for real.

The series proves that humanity is the realest and scariest threat

Truth be told, The Institute isn’t exactly the most recognized or celebrated Stephen King novel, making it an unusual choice for adaptation. Also, most people will draw immediate parallels to other properties like X-Men or The Gifted because of the similar supernatural plotline. It’s a fair comparison, since this show is also about exploring the evils and cruelty of humanity rather than pitting the protagonists against a sinister clown or haunted hotel. It’s the greatest – and realest – threat that anyone can face.

The Institute plays out like a mature version of Stranger Things, or at least the scenes when Eleven is in the Hawkins National Laboratory. It’s compelling – if not entirely original – but it’s rewarding if the audience gives it enough time to build to what it eventually becomes.

The Institute airs on MGM+.