Wayward is a Netflix limited thriller series created by and starring comedian Mae Martin, released in September 2025. A sharp departure from Martin's stand-up and their comedy series Feel Good, it trades laughs for dread, building a slow-burn mystery around a seemingly idyllic small town and the secretive institution at its heart.

Martin plays a police officer who becomes entangled with Tall Pines, an academy for troubled teenagers run by the charismatic and unnerving Evelyn Wade, played by Toni Collette. As two students try to escape the program, the show peels back the community's wholesome facade to expose the coercive machinery of the so-called troubled-teen industry, drawing on real-world reporting about such facilities.

The series debuted at number one on Netflix and amassed well over a billion streaming minutes within weeks, even as critics were sharply divided over its tone and ambitions. Collette's performance drew particular attention and helped make the show one of the most-discussed Netflix titles of the fall. Wayward streams on Netflix.