Whether you’re a fan of their thoughtful rom-com Feel Good or their stand-up (think: 2023’s SAP), you’re probably used to Mae Martin making you laugh. Well, prepare to see a whole new side of the Canadian comedian, because Martin’s thriller Wayward is is here. You can get a peek into the secrets ahead with the trailer, seen above. 

The limited series whisks you to Tall Pines, a bucolic town where nothing is what it seems. Martin created Wayward, and is also the drama’s co-showrunner, executive producer, and star. Their co-stars include Pieces of Her’s Toni Collette, Alias Grace’s Sarah Gadon, and many more familiar faces, like the Suits maverick Patrick J. Adams. The trailer cracks open the door to Tall Pines Academy, a fictional school where questionable methods abound and trust is in low supply. 

“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 Tudum.

Also, Martin drew from their own experiences. “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.” Their interest in that delicate time eventually led Martin to research the “troubled teen” industry; they funneled that curiosity into Wayward, which centers around the disturbing reality of one such facility. Enigmatic Evelyn Wade (Collette) is the leader of Tall Pines Academy and wields the volatile brand of “self-reflection” practiced at the facility.  

Martin and co-showrunner Ryan Scott were inspired by everything from Girl, Interrupted to Get Out to Fargo as they built Wayward. Martin says, “It’s like if you took the kids from Booksmart and put them in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

To delve even deeper into Wayward territory, keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the now-available series, from the complete cast list to the plot. 

What is Wayward about? 

In the picture-perfect town of Tall Pines, sinister secrets lurk behind every closed door. Not long after police officer Alex Dempsey (Martin) and his pregnant wife Laura (Gadon) move into their new home, Dempsey connects with two students, Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind) from the local school for “troubled teens” who are desperate to escape, and could be the key to unearthing everything rotten in the town. As Alex begins investigating a series of unusual incidents, he suspects that Evelyn (Collette), the school’s mysterious leader, might be at the center of all the problems. Created by Martin, Wayward is a thrilling and genre-bending limited series about the eternal struggle between one generation and the next, what happens when friendship and loyalty are put to the ultimate test, and how buried truths always find a way of coming to the surface.

At the center of the show are stars Topliffe and Lind as high school best friends “who are sent to one of these schools and are kind of trying to maintain their sanity,” Martin explains. “But then on top of that, we added a genre element. Wayward has a ton of metaphors for the systems that we all participate in as adults, and how much of our empathy and critical thinking we have to suppress in order to just live in the world. I think that all the characters are grappling with that in this show.”

Although the stakes for Wayward’s teenagers are dire, the series maintains Martin’s signature humor and is both scary and heartfelt.  

Can I watch Wayward?

Yes — all eight episodes of the limited series are now streaming. Once you step through the door of Wayward, you won’t want to leave.  

Who is the creative team behind Wayward? 

Ryan Scott is co-showrunner and executive producer, alongside Martin. “I wanted to explore why one generation always ends up hating the next,” Scott tells Tudum. “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.”

Euros Lyn, who helmed all episodes of Heartstopper Seasons 1 and 2, has joined Wayward as a director and executive producer. He tells Tudum, “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.”  

In addition to Martin and Scott, other EPs on the series include: Jennifer Kawaja and Bruno Dubé of Spere Media, Ben Farrell and Hannah Mackay of Objective Fiction, and Euros Lyn. 

Renuka Jeyapalan and John Fawcett will also direct the thriller.  

Who is in the Wayward cast? 

Every mysterious town needs its cast of characters. In Wayward you’ll spot: 

• Mae Martin as Alex Dempsey
• Toni Collette as Evelyn Wade
• Sarah Gadon as Laura Redman
• Sydney Topliffe as Abbie
• Alyvia Alyn Lind as Leila
• Brandon Jay McLaren as Andrews
• Tattiawna Jones as Rabbit
• Isolde Ardies as Stacey
• Joshua Close as Duck
• Patrick J. Adams as Wyatt Turner
• Patrick Gallagher as Chief Bartell
• Gage Munroe as Riley
• Byron Mann as Brian

What songs are in Wayward? 

Ready to listen to the thriller’s nostalgic mix of classic folk, beloved rock, and unexpected surprises? Look no further. The Wayward soundtrack is: 

Zing Dog “Positive Spirit”     
Weezer “Say It Ain't So”     
The Kossoy Sisters “In the Pines”      
Mozart “Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major K545 (Sonata Facile)”     
The Vines “Get Free” 
Lynryd Skynyrd “Free Bird”          
 Blue Oyster Cult “(Don't Fear) the Reaper”  

The Leslie West Band  “Dear Prudence”
Is Anybody Home “Our Lady Peace”
Thrush Hermit “North Dakota”
Sam Roberts “Brother Down”
Donovan “Hurdy Gurdy Man”
Hugh Masekela “Riot”

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition “Just Dropped In (To See What My Condition Is)”
Tragically Hip “Tiger the Lion”
Broken Social Scene “Anthems For a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl”

The Kossoy Sisters “In the Pines”
Faces “Bad ’N’ Ruin”
The Hidden Cameras “Origin: Orphan”

Radiohead “No Surprises (Instrumental)
The Kossoy Sisters “In the Pines”
Jim Wold “Fragile Bird”
Deep Purple “Highway Star”
Elliott Smith “Happiness”
Third Eye Blind “Graduate”
Third Eye Blind “How’s It Going to Be”
The Offspring “Self Esteem”
Half Moon Run “In the Pines”
Jeremiah Burnham “A Place in California”
Half Moon Run “Momma Miss America (Cover)”
Lead Belly “In the Pines”

Teenage Fanclub “What You Do to Me”
The Kossoy Sisters “In the Pines”
Crazy Town “Butterfly”
Pink “Get the Party Started”
Tricky “Makes Me Wanna Die”
Mikis Theodorakis “Zorba’s Dance”
Odds “Someone Who’s Cool”
Julie London “I’m in the Mood for Love”
T Rex “Life’s a Gas”

The Band “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
Heart “Magic Man”

Metric “Help I’m Alive”
Edith Piaf “La Vie en Rose”
Half Moon Run “In the Pines”

Toronto-born Martin is proud that the sounds of Wayward reflect their own youth in early 2000s Canada (the series is set in 2003). “I am obsessed with the fact that I was able to use the music I grew up with — Canadiana from that era like Tragically Hip, Sam Roberts. I even got ‘Someone Who’s Cool’ by Odds in there,” they say. Canadian band Half Moon Run did two covers for Wayward.  

“I can’t wait for people to hear those,” Martin says. “Their lead singer, Devon Portielje, has a very cool cameo in the show.” 

Can I see the Wayward trailer? 

You sure can — Evelyn is more than happy to welcome you to Tall Pines. The video (which you can watch above) introduces you to Wayward’s pastoral beauty, from the sun-dappled fields to the friendly amphibians. 

But, the trailer also hints at the darker corners. As Alex surveys Tall Pines, he encounters an unidentified minor fleeing through the woods, strange interactions with multiple citizens, and mounting evidence of missing kids. Meanwhile, teenager Abbie realizes, “this place is bad.”  Something is lurking in Tall Pines — and Evelyn seems to be around every corner. Martin can’t wait for viewers to see the Oscar nominee’s “commanding” performance. 

“Toni is one of those few actors who really understands the joke and can be so dryly funny, but then also absolutely terrifying,” Martin says. “She really has presence.” 

Can I see some Wayward photos?

Yes, check out Martin, Collette, Topliffe, and Alyn Ling (and a toad!) in the photos above.

And keep coming back to Tudum as more of Wayward’s secrets bubble to the surface. 

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