Exploring the Real-World Sites Behind Netflix’s Thriller

Warning! Spoilers for Wayward ahead!

Netflix’s Wayward brings viewers to the fictional village of Tall Pines, Vermont, but a variety of real-world locations were used to bring this eerie place to the screen.

Wayward comes from creator Mae Martin, who also stars in the series alongside Sarah Gadon, Toni Collette, Alyvia Alyn Lind, and Sydney Topliffe. The Netflix series kicks off as Martin’s character, Alex, moves to the town of Tall Pines with his wife. Although their new home initially seems idyllic, it quickly becomes clear that something strange is happening with the residents.

Though Wayward is set in Vermont, the series was filmed entirely in Canada. Throughout the 80 days of production, the filming crew moved between conservation areas, villages, and businesses, piecing together the on-screen version of Tall Pines. It’s eerie and unsettling, but also seductively lovely. Picking out these filming locations for Wayward was all part of the art.

Christie Lake Conservation Area, Ontario

The Forests Around Tall Pines

Courtesy of Netflix

Part of that contradictory appeal and unsettling nature of Tall Pines revolves around how isolated the place feels. The town is set within miles and miles of nothing but trees and cliffs, making an escape on foot dangerous and nearly impossible. Wayward‘s imagery was perfect for Vermont, but scenes set within the dense forests were actually shot in an Ontario conservation area.

Christie Lake Conservation Area is 830-acres of forests and trails used for the Wayward scenes set around Alex and Laura’s borrowed house and the woods where students of Tall Pines Academy would attempt to make their great escapes.

Millbrook, Ontario

The Town Of Tall Pines

Courtesy of Netflix

Millbrook is a small town located just outside Toronto, and its streets were used in Wayward to construct the village of Tall Pines. Millbrook boasts an untouched quality, featuring a quaint downtown area that is lacking in modern fast-food chains and stores. Once the areas were cleared for filming, it was no stretch to imagine that this was a town completely out of touch with the rest of the world.

Ted’s Restaurant, Toronto

Diner Outside Of Tall Pines

In Wayward, Alex meets up with a man who claims to have information on Tall Pine’s missing children. Their meeting place of choice is a classic 1950s diner, which, in real life, is called Ted’s Restaurant in Toronto.

Earlier in Wayward, while Abby and Leila are still attending school in Canada, they can be seen weaving through graffiti-covered alleyways in the city. These shots were also filmed in Toronto.

Aristotle’s Steak & Seafood House, Mississauga

Leila’s Party Flashback Scene

While at Tall Pines Academy, Leila was encouraged to revisit her most traumatic memories. Though it’s difficult in these moments to tell fact from fiction, we know that the night of her sister’s death, Leila was the unwilling host of a party at the (closed for the night) restaurant where she worked.

The interior of the restaurant featured in Wayward is actually Aristotle’s Steak & Seafood House in Mississauga, located an hour outside Toronto.

Alexandra Park Pool, Toronto

Leila’s Pool Tragedy Scene

Another Toronto location used in Wayward is the Alexandra Park Pool. This is especially notable, since it was in this pool in the Netflix series that Leila’s sister drowned. We saw a few different versions of this scene, with one implying that Leila woke up to find her sister dead, another showing Leila choose not to help, and, finally, a version that saw Leila push her sister into the pool herself.

Of course, the real Alexandra Park Pool doesn’t look nearly as eerie as what we see in Wayward. Leila’s drug and hypnosis-induced memories distorted the place. Still, it only took some lighting changes and a little on-screen magic to make this real-world location look like a place of nightmares in Wayward.

Sources: Netflix, TimeOut

Release Date

September 25, 2025

Network

Netflix

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