Wayward (miniseries)
Wayward is a Canadian mystery thriller limited series created by Mae Martin for Netflix. The series stars Martin, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Sydney Topliffe, Toni Collette, Sarah Gadon, and John Daniel. The story is set in 2003 in the fictional town of Tall Pines, Vermont, and follows a pair of teenagers and a local police officer uncovering the town's dark secrets. It was released on Netflix on 25 September 2025.
Premise
Nothing is what it seems in Tall Pines. After an escape attempt from an academy for troubled teens, two students, Leila and Abbie, join forces with a newly local police officer, Alex, in unearthing the town's dark and deeply rooted secrets.Cast
Main
- Mae Martin as Alex Dempsey, a transgender man and young police officer, new to Tall Pines
- Alyvia Alyn Lind as Leila, a troubled teenager who recently lost her sister, is admitted to Tall Pines Academy after breaking in to rescue her best friend Abbie
- Sydney Topliffe as Abbie, Leila's best friend, who is sent to Tall Pines Academy by her parents in Toronto
- Toni Collette as Evelyn Wade, head teacher at Tall Pines Academy
- Sarah Gadon as Laura Redman, Alex's pregnant wife, former Tall Pines Academy student
- John Daniel as Rory, a Tall Pines Academy student who befriends Abbie
- Elizabeth Adams as Ello, a Tall Pines student and Leila's roommate
- Milton Torres Lara as Daniel, a Tall Pines student who was Riley's roommate before he fled
- Joshua Close as Duck, head of the boys at Tall Pines Academy
- Tattiawna Jones as Rabbit, head of the girls at Tall Pines Academy
- Isolde Ardies as Stacey, Abbie's roommate at Tall Pines Academy
Recurring
- Brandon Jay McLaren as Dwayne Andrews, Alex's partner on the police force
- Patrick J. Adams as Wyatt Turner, Leila and Abbie's guidance counsellor
- Gage Munroe as Riley, a student who goes missing from Tall Pines Academy
- Byron Mann as Brian, Abbie's strict father
- Jenny Raven as Carla, Abbie's mother
- Cynthia Ritchie as Claire, Abbie's overachieving sister
- Patrick Gallagher as Bartell, the Tall Pines chief of police
- Donald MacLean Jr. as Kyle, Leila's older boyfriend
- Geena Meszaros as Oatmeal Beth, a Tall Pines student
- Tricia Black as Mule, one of the Tall Pines Academy counselors
- Feaven Abera as Kendall, a Tall Pines student
- Maia Jae as Alexandra, a Tall Pines student
- Charlie Gibbard-McCall as Marty, a Tall Pines student
- Erik Junnola as Tanner, a Tall Pines student
- Devin Cecchetto as Jess, Leila's sister
- Christina Orjalo as Ashley, Jess' best friend
- Michaela Cannon as Harper, a Tall Pines local who befriends Laura
- Melanie Leishman as Ruby, a Tall Pines local who takes part in Laura's therapy group
- Carolyn Taylor as Terry, an officer on the Tall Pines police force
- Mark McKinney as Maurice, father of a former Tall Pines student
Production
In April 2023, an eight-part series from Mae Martin was commissioned by Netflix with Martin also set to star. Martin acted as showrunner on the series alongside Ryan Scott, as well as executive producer. Production is through London- and Los Angeles–based Objective Fiction and Canada’s Sphere Media. Scott also served as executive producer alongside Ben Farrell for Objective Fiction along with Hannah Mackay, Jennifer Kawaja and Bruno Dubé.Brandon Jay McLaren joined the cast in May 2024. In June 2024, Sarah Gadon, Toni Collette, Patrick J. Adams, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Patrick Gallagher, Sydney Topliffe and Josh Close joined the cast.
The series was initially called Tall Pines. Filming began in Ontario, Canada, in mid-2024.
Themes
Martin said this is a story they have "been dying to tell for years." Martin's best friend in high school had been sent to a school for troubled teens, like Tall Pines, for two years, and later told them "insane stories" about the school's "weirdly theatrical aggressive therapy." Their friend's school was later shut down for abuse and neglect, and Martin eventually learned that such schools were largely unregulated and lacked transparency regarding their methods. Martin also learned that much of the troubled teen industry originated in 1970s self-help cults like Synanon, and this served as inspiration for the structure of Tall Pines. Martin's friend from high school served as a consultant for the show, and a writer on the show attended a similar school as well.Martin says that Abbie and Leila are based on their relationship with their high school best friend, and the show is "like a love letter to that friendship, and to teen friendship." They wanted the show to produce an emotional connection in viewers rather than sharing a specific message.
Martin said that they wrote their character, Alex, as a trans man due to the show's setting in 2003. Martin is nonbinary, but they felt that there was not much public understanding of nonbinary identities at that time, so "who knows where I’ll end up on that spectrum?" They described Alex as a stand-in for audience members: he is an imperfect but earnest newcomer to town, skeptical of his surroundings even as he longs to be accepted.
Martin also wanted the show to explore the themes of acceptance and ignorance of unjust systems. Joining cults is one metaphor for this, as is Alex's hunt for acceptance and a heteronormative family life, and teenage rebellion shows a contrasting approach to injustice.