Overview

• After launching globally, the eight‑episode series quickly reached the top spot on Netflix’s chart before Monster: The Ed Gein Story overtook it.
• Toni Collette stars as the imposing head of a reform school in mid‑2000s Vermont, with Martin playing a local officer who grows suspicious of the institution.
• The fiction draws on real practices tied to groups like Synanon, with reporting cited on a multi‑million‑dollar settlement by Trinity Teen Solutions and several teen deaths at Utah facilities since 2021.
• Critics have generally responded positively, with a 78% Rotten Tomatoes score, while the audience score sits at 48%.
• Wayward is streaming now exclusively on Netflix and blends mystery, horror, psychological drama, and dark humor without revealing its major twists.