Stephen King and Philip K. Dick are known to be two of the most prolific and influential authors in their respective genres. While Stephen King is often touted as the King of Horror, Philip K. Dick's seminal books and stories like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Minority Report still inspire many modern movies and TV shows.
Since Stephen King and Philip K. Dick capture two very distinct literary genres, one will hardly notice any overlaps in their stories. The King of Horror has dabbled with sci-fi, but most of his additions to the genre are nothing like Philip K. Dick's bizarre and philosophically dense stories. Interestingly, though, an ongoing Stephen King TV series is starting to feel a lot like a Philip K. Dick adaptation.
The show in question, The Institute, is based on a Stephen King book of the same name. In its first season, the show closely followed its source material and barely seemed distinct in any way. The Institute season 2's opening moments, however, seem reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's brand of science fiction in more ways than one.
In classic Stephen King stories like Carrie and Firestarter, supernatural abilities are portrayed more as metaphors for emotional trauma and the loss of innocence. However, The Institute turns the same abilities into industrial weapons, reminding one of Philip K. Dick stories like Minority Report and Ubik.
Like Philip K. Dick's stories, The Institute also makes viewers question whether oppression in the present is justified to serve a greater good that secures humanity's future.
Similar to Minority Report, The Institute, too, is driven by the concept of "precognition." The show's season 2 even features a scene in its opening episode where adult precogs are gathered in a room and asked to use their abilities to foresee events that could cause humanity's destruction.
The Institute also reflects institutional concerns and anxieties surrounding the loss of manual labor and the struggle to replace humans with technology. One character is introduced as a tech mogul in The Institute season 2's episode 1 who considers replacing adult precogs with AI. To his dismay, AI's predictions are just as effective as the ones foreseen by the "gifted" humans.
In typical Philip K. Dick fashion, The Institute also dabbles with themes surrounding surveillance capitalism and how low-tier employees are silenced when they find the dark truth about what is happening in their workplace. Similar to Philip K. Dick stories, even the overarching villain in The Institute is a faceless bureaucratic agency that secretly operates on a global scale.
The Institute struggled to rise above genre conventions in season 1. Perhaps, this explains why the series received more of a mixed reception when it first premiered. In more ways than one, it even seemed derivative of other sci-fi shows like Stranger Things. Fortunately, in season 2, The Institute is seemingly exploring the true potential of its ambitious ideas.
In season 1 itself, The Institute loosely brushed over intriguing questions surrounding whether it is justified to take away one's free will in the present to have some semblance of control over the future. After season 2's episode 1, it looks like the show is expanding upon these ideas while also giving them a Philip K. Dick spin.
Hopefully, in its upcoming episodes, The Institute season 2 will double down on these fascinating developments and come off as the perfect mishmash of Stephen King's horror and Philip K. Dick's sci-fi.
The Institute, released in 2025, follows 14-year-old genius Luke Ellis, who is kidnapped and wakes up at a mysterious facility filled with children possessing unusual abilities. Meanwhile, Tim Jamieson, a former police officer, seeks a fresh start in a nearby town, inevitably intertwining his fate with Luke's.
