# The Institute (2025)

> A kidnapped teen genius wakes in a facility of gifted children while a haunted former cop tries to start over in a nearby town, and their paths are destined to collide.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/168354

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 58 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: science fiction, horror, mystery
- Created by: Benjamin Cavell
- Network: MGM+
- Cast: Ben Barnes, Joe Freeman, Simone Miller, Fionn Laird, Hannah Galway, Julian Richings, Robert Joy, Martin Roach
- TMDB rating: 6.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10946316/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: unsettling, tense, bleak, paranoid

## What critics say

Reception is mixed: critics praise the cast and eerie premise but find the slow setup and long lead-in frustrating.

## Synopsis

The Institute (2025) is an American science fiction thriller series adapted from a Stephen King novel and created by Benjamin Cavell for MGM+. Fourteen-year-old genius Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) is kidnapped and wakes inside a secretive facility filled with children who arrived the same way he did and all possess unusual abilities. Meanwhile, haunted former police officer Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes) arrives in a quiet town hoping to rebuild his life, but his past keeps intruding on the peace he seeks. Principal supporting roles include Simone Miller as Kalisha, Mary-Louise Parker as Ms. Sigsby, and Julian Richings as Stackhouse. The series is a single-season run of sixteen episodes, told as two converging storylines that move toward a shared collision point. Its engine is the mounting dread of captivity, the pressure of institutional secrecy, and the slow revelation of what the facility is doing to its young captives. The mood is unsettling and tense, with psychological horror and mystery threaded through a grounded American setting. Fans of Stranger Things, The Stand and Dark will find resonance in its blend of gifted children, sinister institutions and a haunted protagonist searching for redemption.

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