Institutional horrors
The Institute, the latest Stephen King novel to get the small-screen treatment, comes from two creatives who are more familiar than most with the author’s work.
Writer Benjamin Cavell previously adapted The Stand, while director Jack Bender was across Mr Mercedes, Under the Dome and The Outsider. Now they have partnered to bring The Institute to MGM+, with the series launching on the streamer yesterday.
The eight-part series follows teen genius Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman), who is kidnapped and awakens at The Institute, a facility led by Ms Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker) that is full of children who all got there the same way he did and who are all possessed of unusual abilities. In a nearby town, haunted former police officer Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes) has come looking to start a new life, but the peace and quiet won’t last as his story and Luke’s are destined to collide.
In this DQTV interview, Bender and Cavell reveal their admiration for King’s stories and why they were drawn to adapting this 2019 novel for television.
They also discuss the balance of child and adult characters in the series, why the story speaks to real-world events and why the worst monsters in the series are the human kind.
The Institute is now available on MGM+.
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tagged in: Benjamin Cavell, Jack Bender, MGM, Mr Mercedes, Stephen King, The Institute, The Outsider, The Stand, Under the Dome