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The Institute adaptations: books & series
Every version of The Institute — the books & series, compared across media.
Luke Ellis is a teenage genius when strangers murder his parents and take him in the night. He wakes up at The Institute — a facility where kidnapped children with unusual abilities are held against their will. This chilling premise, anchored in suburban Minneapolis and the quiet terror of powerlessness against an unseen apparatus, exists as both a novel and a 2025 television series, each finding its own way into the same nightmare.
The Institute series
The Institute books
Frequently asked
Is The Institute TV series based on a book?
Yes. The 2025 television series The Institute is based on the novel The Institute, which follows Luke Ellis, a boy kidnapped and brought to a secret facility holding children with unusual abilities.
How many versions of The Institute are there?
There are two versions: the original novel The Institute and the 2025 television adaptation The Institute, which expands the story across episodes.
Should I read the book or watch the series first?
Both begin with the same premise — Luke Ellis kidnapped and woken at a mysterious facility. Reading The Institute novel first gives you the original story before watching the 2025 series.