The best horror movies have something in them that makes you think they could really happen – whether that's because they're set in a really familiar location, or because they work hard to be as credible as possible. Step into frame Netflix's upcoming thriller series Wayward, then, which is scarily believable.
It's set in and around a creepy town called Tall Pines which pretty clearly has some secrets hiding in plain sight. In particular, the town is home to Tall Pines Academy, a school or residential home for supposedly troubled teenagers, run by none other than Toni Collette as Evelyn Wade.
Collette is a brilliant actress, and she's also no stranger to genre flicks, having done such unbelievably memorable work in Hereditary a number of years ago. Wayward's first trailer reminds me more of Midsommar than that movie, though, thanks to its lush scenery and odd tone. That's one of the scariest movies I can remember watching, too, so it's a pretty good starting point.
The series is the brainchild of Mae Martin, who also stars as Alex Dempsey, a police officer who moves to the town and soon encounters teenagers Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind), who seem to be desperate to get away from the academy. That piques his interest, and it clearly won't take long to form an impression that something is very, very wrong in the community.
Netflix's own write-ups of the series repeatedly mention that it bends genre definitions, and that it blurs the line between thriller, horror and comedy, which are some interesting plates to keep spinning. That said, the best horror movies often do make you laugh with their sheer intensity, or when they finally break the tension they've been building.
If Wayward can inspire that sort of reaction, it'll be on the right track, but I'm guessing we might get a better sense of its tone when a full trailer comes out. For now, we can only wait until the series arrives on 25 September, although I'd guess we'll get that longer look at it within the next month, ahead of that.
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