Wayward

At the idea stage, no one can accuse Canadian comedian Mae Martin of not choosing cleverly effective sources of inspiration for her new Netflix-funded thriller series. The idea was to take mostly {Twin Peaks} and a dashing of {Stranger Things}, throw it all in a blender and press the smoothie button until it smells like sweet TV success. However, {Wayward} is neither particularly good nor something that I suspect will break viewing records, despite clever marketing and suggestive use of cover images within Netflix's well-organised app. This is because it's simply not good. The script is poor and the direction lacks edge, nerve and bite, making this a display of poorly utilised potential.

To my knowledge, Toni Collette has never played a bad role.

The story is relatively straightforward and simple. A cult leader with enormous glasses, played by the (as always) watchable Toni Collette, locks problem-ridden young people away on the outskirts of the small town of {Tall Pines} and brainwashes them, something that only comes to light when a newly arrived police cadet moves in and begins to unravel all the strange incidents that occur in the area.

The set pieces are bluntly dull and routinely boring in their tired predictability.

The premise of cults and cult leaders, charismatic and charming personalities who, driven by their own strong convictions, enchant and hypnotise, while their opposites in the same fictional universe suspect something is amiss and must work against chronic headwinds as "the only ones" who see the real truth, is nothing new in this format. It's more that we've seen in this premise, in one form or another, about 12,000 times already, and sadly, {Wayward} does nothing unique or fresh that makes it feel justified to spend eight hours with Collette's manic cult leader aunt.

Alex Dempsey has such a stiff and expressionless face that viewers never understand her feelings, her motivation or her thoughts.

On paper, however, there are some merits here. Unfortunately, they don't really come across on screen. There is some kind of input into the debate on collectivism versus individualism, and Mae tries to tear down the nuclear family and its core values, but she only scratches the surface, scribbling a little in the corner rather than saying anything substantial. On top of that, the suspenseful moments are never exciting, and the lead actress and screenwriter/showrunner feels completely wrong in the role of Alex Dempsey, as her expressionless face never conveys anything and her acting never feels effective or like it fits into the thriller format. She lacks intensity, presence, natural delivery, and charisma, and even though Collette does her best to make up for this (she is always really good), it's never enough.

{Wayward} is bland, dull, predictable, and flat. The cinematography is nice, though, and Collette is always worth watching, but it's not enough to make it passable. Not even close.