The new Netflix streaming series Wayward may be the first series that made me feel like I was trapped, like most of the cast, with no escape. Billed as a genre-bending mashup of coming-of-age comedy and rebellious, dehumanizing institutional control, the series seems to play with the audience’s patience, almost gleefully.
A series like Wayward, which draws inspiration, albeit to a lesser extent, from shows such as Twin Peaks, The Leftovers, and Eerie, Indiana, ultimately disappoints the viewer with its lack of payoff and recycled reveals that undermine the main story. That’s a shame, because the subtext about transient youth is worth exploring.
Netflix’s Wayward Plot
Wayward follows a handful of characters, including best friends Abbie (Davey & Jonesie’s Locker’s Sydney Topliffe) and Leile (Chucky’s Alyvia Alyn Lind), troubled teens involved in substance abuse, depression, trauma, and family conflict. The school guidance counselor (Suits‘ Patrick J. Adams) believes the Wayward facility in Tall Pines can cure them of their rebellious ways.
Then we cut to Alex (Mae Martin) and Laura (Enemy’s Sarah Gadon), who are about to have their first child. They’ve moved from Detroit to Tall Pines, where Laura grew up. She was also once a resident there and credits Evelyn (Toni Collette) with saving her. This idyllic town feels strange to Alex; everyone knows each other, and the community seems to revolve around the troubled-teen facility.
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However, things are about to get even crazier for Alex, who has taken a job as a deputy at the local police station. Alex is partnered with Dwayne (Brandon Jay McLaren), who grew up with Laura. While on patrol through the scenic town and its lush, green hillside roads, a young man emerges from the forest. Dirty, wild-eyed, and desperately in need of food and water, he flees from Alex and Dwayne after initially accepting their help, leaving Alex to wonder what is really going on in the place they now call home.
Netflix’s Wayward Review
Wayward is from Canadian comedian, actor, recording artist, and screenwriter Mae Martin, an advocate for non-binary fluidity of gender identity. Martin has spoken openly about their struggles as a teenager, from family, romance, and friendships to addiction, trauma, and gender identity. The connection, of course, is the group’s vulnerability.
That would be that unsafe environments can lead to homelessness, frequent moves, or reliance on temporary support networks. That subject matter, touched on through Martin’s character and the youth depicted in the series, makes for a compelling setup, often powerfully so, that elevates the narrative beyond a typical cult mystery series.
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It is one of Netflix’s first Canadian original series. You can take the show as almost a metaphor for the North American history of putting the children of the indigenous population in Missionary schools. (Search for last year’s best documentary film, Sugarcane.) Martin also outlines why children of abusive homes, and the trauma they experience with “intentional” communities. Here, Collette’s character tries to strip the residents of their identity.
Is Netflix’s Wayward Worth Watching?
This is the type of series where many will praise Collette’s performance, but in reality, it’s a thinly veiled character. Frankly, her performance offers nothing new or fresh to the clichéd role. Don’t get me wrong, Collette is good, as is Gadon, who seems to play the same enigmatic, mysterious role year after year. If anything, Lind shows the most range, as her character comes full circle.
You can even admire the ambiguity of the drawing and the fact that it offers no easy answers. However, Wayward is not worth watching because it offers minimal payoff from its specific reveals, which provide very little emotional and narrative value for a series intended as a psychological thriller with more to say on the subject matter.
The mood and tone are enjoyable for a thriller, but the numerous false leads and dangling subplots only distract from the story’s lack of payoff. It’s a kind of pejorative storytelling that may be easy to admire in theory, but difficult to enjoy as entertainment, which is what it was designed to be. Martin and the company lose their way.
You can stream the new series Wayward on Netflix on September 25, 2025! All eight episodes were reviewed.
