The Institute

Matt Roush says...

Kids will be kids — but in the world of Stephen King, childhood often comes with peril. (Think , Cujo, Stand by Me, Firestarter, to name a few.) In an eight-part adaptation of King’s 2019 page-turner, brainiac teenager Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) is snatched overnight, waking in a creepy top-secret Institute in — where else — small-town Maine, where he joins other young lab rats with psychic gifts like telekinesis and telepathy. Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) is the ice-cold proprietor, grooming these kids’ abilities for shady purposes that she believes will save the world—at whatever cost. Ben Barnes (Westworld) co-stars as Tim Jamieson, a troubled ex-cop from the big city who takes what he hopes is a low-profile gig as a “night knocker” for the local police but soon becomes suspicious of the shadowy Institute.

What's Worth Watching (Jul 12)