We all remember the story of little Danny Torrance from The Shining. This cute and charming five-year-old travels with his parents Jack and Wendy to the mountains of Colorado to wait out the winter in the sinister Overlook Hotel. Fortunately, Danny possesses a mysterious strength: a talent for telepathy King cals the shining. This brave little boy is followed by Charlie McGee (Firestarter), an innocent little girl with a powerful mind. Thanks to a shady government program, she was born with the ability to light fires with her mind along with a host of other psychic abilities. In the decades since introducing these powerful kids, Stephen King has written about from Leo Rockway (The Stand) and Ellie Creed (Pet Sematary) to the beam breakers trapped in midworld (The Dark Tower), King excels at creating likeable young characters with powers much larger than their tiny bodies.
In 2019, he published The Institute, a sci-fi horror novel following a group of psychic boys and girls. After masked intruders invade his home, Luke Ellis finds himself trapped in the titular facility, a prison-like teen camp where he’s poked and prodded with mysterious serums in order to increase his psychic abilities. Told that they are saving the world, Luke and his fellow prisoners begin making plans to break themselves out. Now, Jack Bender has brought this horrific story to the small screen in a limited series for MGM+. Joe Freeman leads an impressive young cast as the imprisoned Luke while Ben Barnes plays a genial night knocker observing the facility from a neighboring town.
Join Losers Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, and Ashley Casseday as they discuss the highs and lows of this impressive adaptation. How does Mary Louise Parker add empathy to the villainous Ms. Sigsby? Do changes from the source material streamline the story? What do they think of these young performers and the aesthetic depiction of the ominous Back Half? How does Bender tackle the more existential elements of the story? They munch on candy cigarettes and look for the dots while exploring the halls of this sinister world.
Stream the review below and stay tuned as the Losers continue The Summer of The Stand, a three book episode event series giving other Losers a chance to chime in on King’s renown apocalyptic epic. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).
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The post ‘The Institute’ – MGM+ Series Spotlights a New Generation of Stephen King Kids [The Losers’ Club Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
