The Institute has the glimmer of what makes a Stephen King story great, but with none of the polish or shine to make it happen.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jul 24, 2025

It's not hard for a promising psychological sci-fi series like this to get lost in its own details

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

The Institute also feels like a unique experience in and of itself, bringing a more solemn, less Spielbergian tone to proceedings that allows the series to head more quickly to sinister places.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 22, 2025

There are lots of good elements to The Institute that just don’t seem to come together well in the first episode. But the hope is that they will coalesce as the series goes along.

Full Review | Jul 17, 2025

The Institute might have made for some perfectly serviceable fun for the early-adolescent demographic. As things stand, it’s hardly fun at all.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 17, 2025

If you’re a fan of Stephen King stories and the series based on them, then this is worth checking out. I wasn’t thrilled with the overall experience, but I can’t put my finger on why exactly.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 17, 2025

Eight episodes that are surprisingly addictive and that come across as the bastard child of The New Mutants and Stranger Things, but with Kingian DNA. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 16, 2025

Despite all its flaws, The Institute is still enjoyable in its pulpy sensibility. With engaging twists and a strong teen cast, the result is an easygoing summertime horror fix that amounts to more than just MGM+'s answer to Stranger Things.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 15, 2025

“The Institute” can feel refreshing when its throwback style meshes with its timeless principles. Unfortunately, ordinary ideas aren’t enough in a show lacking anything extraordinary whatsoever.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jul 14, 2025

The Institute isn’t a perfect series, especially as it stumbles to its conclusion. Yet, it will undoubtedly keep the attention of audiences desperate to uncover the mystery at the center of the story.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2025

The Institute is the TV equivalent of a good beach read, though you’re better off looking for a copy of King’s original, which was a much more effective page-turner.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 14, 2025

Still, if you regard “The Institute” as a kind of YA novel about resistance and revolt, and a metaphor for the way young people have been sacrificed by the old to feed their agendas and wars, it has some legs.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2025

...makes for an extremely addictive and compelling watch.

Full Review | Jul 13, 2025

Even the best efforts of stars Ben Barnes and Mary Louise Parker aren’t enough to make it more than a passable entry in the ever-burgeoning King-to-screen catalogue.

Full Review | Jul 11, 2025

Due to modest budget, “The Institute” isn’t a vintage King production — even though the author is an executive producer on it — but it keeps you on edge and speculating why these children are made to suffer.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 10, 2025

It’s simple and polished and occasionally involving, but, like the book itself, it comes across more as a pu-pu platter of King tropes and archetypes rather than a fully developed or evolved spin on the formula.

Full Review | Jul 9, 2025

Even if The Institute‘s plot feels mapped out from the beginning—and honestly the story’s a bit familiar even if you’re not a King junkie—it’s still entertaining.

Full Review | Jul 9, 2025

...the show looks excellent and has locked in performances. But you can’t help feeling it’s phoned in.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 8, 2025

...the unraveling mystery, compelling characters, and hope for comeuppance will keep you glued to your TV.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 8, 2025

Ultimately, The Institute is proof that not every Stephen King story needs to make it to the big screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jul 8, 2025