The new Netflix series “Wayward” was created by the non binary comedian Mei Martin and it is a deceptive psychological thriller that takes place in a strict academy for troubled boys, at the center of which a cult operates.
But the big question is not who will manage to escape rather, whether we ourselves will be drawn in until the end of the eight episodes.
It all begins with the escape of one of the boys from the institution an event that shakes up the order and ignites an investigation that unsettles the small town in Vermont.
The town is visited by the new policeman Alex Dempsey (Mei Martin) with his pregnant wife Laura (Sarah Gadon), hoping to start a clean slate.
Lauras connection to the place she herself studied at the academy reveals to Alex how deeply the local community revolves around the mysterious institution for troubled boys.
The complex is run by Evelyn Wade (Toni Collette), a charismatic figure whose pleasant appearance hides a cruel hardness.
Into the walls are drawn also two young friends, Lila (Alivia Alyn Lind) and Avi (Sydney Topelev), who quickly discover that the way out is far more complex than they imagined.
The three plotlines of Lila and Avi, of the young couple Alex and Laura, and of Evelyn do not exist separately but are intertwined.
They create a cross generational fabric in which the voices of teenage girls, young adults, and one stern authority figure converse with each other.
This structure emphasizes the central theme the series explores: parent child relationships, the traumas we carry from home and whether it is truly possible to free ourselves from them or whether we are doomed to repeat them again and again.
One of the most fascinating things in “Wayward” is the blurring of moral boundaries.
On one hand, the boys really behave violently and sometimes even endanger themselves and their surroundings and once they are given freedom, anarchy breaks out in full force.
On the other hand, the framework in which they live is not a school but a prison in disguise a space that does not allow personal expression but only generates more violence.
An episode in “Hunger Games” style illustrates this extremely: the boys are sent on a survival journey and the struggle for the top of the mountain exposes the cruel impulses that the home instilled in them.
There the question sharpens: is their place in a closed, punishing institution, or perhaps in a society that tries to rehabilitate, understand and dismantle the intergenerational chain of trauma? Two actresses who particularly stand out in the series are Toni Collette and Sarah Gadon.
Collette, one of the most recognized Australian actresses, has already built a fruitful relationship with Netflix in series like “Unbelievable” and “I Am Nothing.” At the same time she runs an extensive film career, with unforgettable roles in “Hereditary,” “Muriel’s Wedding” and “Little Miss Sunshine.”
Gadon, the Canadian actress who plays Laura, is known mainly for her long collaborations with David Cronenberg and his son Brandon (in “Antiviral”), as well as for her role in the miniseries “Alias Grace,” based on Margaret Atwood’s book.
Both bring a completely different presence to the screen Collette with a crushing charisma that carries the series with a firm hand, and Gadon with complex gentleness that charges the emotional story with an extra dimension.
Ultimately, they function as mirror characters for each other two women whose lives are intertwined in the institution: one as a forceful authority and the other as someone trying to distance herself from it, yet both embody different sides of the same story of trauma and struggle for control.
The final episode of “Wayward” leaves an open ending one that leads to an uncomfortable place, but does not necessarily demand a second season.
On Netflix we have already seen situations in which a limited series was revived for a second season, such as in the case of “Sex Education,” but this happened mainly thanks to extraordinary success and awards.
In the case of this series, it does not seem to be the direction and it will probably remain a one‑time story.
It is not a revolutionary show in the genre of psychological thrillers, yet it manages to hold the viewer’s attention thanks to a combination of captivating characters, excellent acting, and a narrative structure that challenges moral boundaries and raises difficult questions.
Even if it does not become the next big Netflix hit, it is a dark, enjoyable and thought provoking series.
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