Netflix has dropped the official trailer for Wayward, a limited-series thriller from creator-star Mae Martin (Feel Good) and starring Oscar nominee Toni Collette. Watch the trailer above and read on for the essentials.
Welcome to Tall Pines
Picture-perfect town. Troubled-teen academy. Something’s off. Police officer Alex Dempsey (Martin) moves in with pregnant wife Laura (Sarah Gadon) and quickly crosses paths with students Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind) — desperate to escape Tall Pines Academy.
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The school’s promo vows to “solve the problem of adolescence”. Evelyn Wade (Collette), its unnervingly calm leader, tells a restrained newcomer: “I can’t wait for you to meet the new you.” Another voice warns: “Children go in, something else comes out.” And in the thick of it, Abbie clocks the vibe: “this place is bad.”
Why Mae Martin made it
“I often talk around adolescence or I write characters who are processing their teens. It was such an intense time for me, and is for everyone, but I’ve always known I wanted to more directly dive into that time and all the visceral feelings of adolescence,” Martin tells Netflix site Tudum.
“I was a wayward teen in the early 2000s, and my best friend was sent to one of these troubled teen institutes when she was 16,” explains Martin. “She came back and had just the craziest stories about it.”
On the tonal blend, Martin says: “We were saying it’s like if you took the kids from Booksmart and put them in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Who’s involved (and what to expect)
Collette is the academy’s enigmatic centre of gravity; Gadon’s Laura is both expectant mum and a former student. Also appearing: Patrick J. Adams, Brandon Jay McLaren, Tattiawna Jones, Isolde Ardies, Joshua Close, Patrick Gallagher, Gage Munroe and Byron Mann.
Co-showrunner Ryan Scott (Fear the Walking Dead) puts the theme plainly: “I wanted to explore why one generation always ends up hating the next. We were all teenagers once (or still are) and then we slowly transformed into adults who forget. Wayward is about this metamorphosis. About those of us that fight it and try to hold on to our teenage selves, and those that surrender to adulthood.”
Director and executive producer Euros Lyn (Daredevil, Broadchurch) adds: “Directing a stellar ensemble featuring Toni Collette, Sarah Gadon, and Mae Martin is a dream come true. I’m excited to bring this original blend of thriller, comedy, and horror to life, and to shed light on the ‘troubled teen’ industry.”
Produced by Objective Fiction and Sphere Media, Wayward is one of Netflix Canada’s first originals and is in TIFF’s official selection.
Wayward premieres on Netflix on September 25 (all eight episodes).
