People often forget that the Toronto International Film Festival doesn’t only spotlight new and independent films. This year’s Primetime programme, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, featured a diverse lineup of serialized television shows from around the world. While Primetime can get lost in the TIFF shuffle, it’s worth checking out, as there’s always one or two worthwhile surprises to come out of it. This year, that surprise was Netflix’s new Canadian series, Wayward .
The surprisingly creepy eight-episode series is from Mae Martin, a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer who’s been slowly building an international name for themself, and Wayward is the perfect example of how talented Martin is as both an actor and writer. Wayward primarily focuses on Alex Dempsey (Martin), a police officer who relocates to the fictional town of Tall Pines with their pregnant wife, Laura (Sarah Gadon), who grew up there. Little does Alex know, this small town is hiding many dirty secrets, and they all seem to lead back to Tall Pines Academy, led by Evelyn Wade, played with perfect villainy by Toni Collette.
Episode 1 opens with a bang. The teaser shows a teenage boy escaping from Tall Pines Academy and hiding in a lake as armed guards pursue him. This short but effective opening immediately puts the audience on guard, which pays off greatly as the series continues and builds mistrust of anyone or anything in Tall Pines. From there, we relocate to Toronto and meet Leile (Alyvia Alyn Lind) and Abbie (Sydney Topliffe)—two high school students, each struggling in their own way, who find comfort in each other’s friendship until Tall Pines Academy and Evelyn Wade enter their lives.
Martin manages to say a great deal about institutional power and how those who are supposed to uphold it often weaponize their authority under the guise of helping. Much of the terror in Wayward stems from the ideas it presents about manipulation and coercion. Still, Martin leans on her background in comedy to ensure that the show’s darkness is always balanced with some levity and a whole lot of humanity.
Co-showrunners Martin and Ryan Scott are highly skilled storytellers. The series introduces multiple, well-crafted twists and turns in the first two episodes alone. They are especially effective at keeping the energy fresh, though the premise isn’t wholly original given TV audiences are quite familiar now with shows about cults, youth reform schools with hidden agendas, or small towns with big secrets. It would have been easy for Martin and Scott to capitalize on familiarity and create something generic that leverages other similar ideas. Instead, they made something that truly stands on its own, thanks to its poignant themes, incredible cast, and chilling atmosphere.
With an overabundance of television to choose from on Netflix, it can be frustrating to invest eight hours into a series that may end up being a waste of time, but luckily Wayward is not one of those titles. It is a completely worthy binge show that will have you clicking “Watch Next Episode” until you’ve finished the entire thing.
The first two episodes of Wayward screened as part of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival , and all eight episodes are now streaming on Netflix .
