This article includes discussions of the troubled teen industry, brainwashing, abuse, and cults.
MAJOR SPOILERS for Wayward are ahead!
A new cult thriller called Wayward has jumped to the #1 spot on Netflix’s Top 10 list, and its ending is more terrifying than most horror TV shows out there. The thriller genre might feel oversaturated, but Netflix has just released one of the most entertaining additions.
The show Wayward follows two teens, Abbie and Leila, who get trapped in an abusive, troubled teen “therapy” school called Tall Pines Academy. They seek the help of new police officer Alex to escape, but he will face resistance in helping them because of the town’s culty antics and the leader, Evelyn, played by Oscar-nominated actress Toni Collette.
Even though it’s technically a thriller, Wayward uses elements of surrealist and survivalist horror throughout the entire miniseries. Wayward manages to be one of the weirdest TV shows of the year while also being chilling. That being said, the best horror occurs in the finale, which is more terrifying than most horror TV shows out there.
Netflix’s Wayward Includes Elements Of Surrealist Horror Throughout The Miniseries
As a horror fanatic, I went into Wayward expecting adrenaline-pumping thrills, rather than genuine fear. While Netflix’s Wayward is extremely grounded in reality, it does incorporate stylistic elements of surrealist horror because the forms of abuse heavily rely upon memories, hallucinations, and dreams. The audience watches first-hand as Evelyn reprograms Leila’s memories, using hypnosis and drugs to put her into a dream-like state.
Except, like lucid dreaming, she can change the dreams. Influenced by Evelyn’s statements, her memory goes from her excitedly going to a party with her sister and her sister accidentally drowning to her killing her sister.
This scene illustrates the malleability of memories. Additionally, it is chilling to the core to watch. The lighting, camera movements, and angles all create a sense that something is very, very wrong. It’s like the uncanny valley except with reality instead of a person.
This is just one example among many. The fact that everyone in the town of Tall Pines is disturbingly nice and friendly makes the town feel like it can’t exist in reality. Similarly, the scenes in the outside world have normal color balance, but the color palette in Tall is different and a little over- or undersaturated at all times.
While the whole miniseries is pretty creepy because of the surrealist horror elements, the show raises the stakes for the Wayward’s ending, which is nothing short of bone-chilling. It hits on surrealist horror, real-life horror, and cult horror – the perfect trifecta for the show.
Evelyn’s Trippy Overdose Scene Finale Is Absolutely Terrifying
Evelyn reaches into the mouth of another evelyn whose jaw is unhinged in Wayward’s finale
Even if you removed every other terrifying part of Wayward’s finale, Evelyn’s trippy overdose scene is intense and disturbing enough that it would still outdo most horror shows. During Wayward’s leap ritual, this phrase is repeated on a loop:
“You’re lying on your back crying out for your mother. She is standing, facing the wall. She has her back to you. A bell rings. Your mother turns to face you. She is silent, but her mouth is open wide. In her mouth is a door.”
The overdose scene takes this creepy-sounding mantra and turns it into a visual sequence that builds fear perfectly. Toni Collette is both the child and the mother, which adds an unnerving ambiance to the scene. When she silently opens her mouth, it feels too wide to be normal, and the faint sound of bones cracking can be heard.
The image of Evelyn reaching into other Evelyn’s mouth is reminiscent of Pennywise biting off Georgie’s arm in IT (2017), which is kind of perfect given the reference to the Stephen King story earlier in the show.
Then, it gets even worse when they show the image of Evelyn’s arm inside her mouth, angled as if the camera is in the back of the throat. They enhance this terror with even more audio horror of gagging and mouth noises.
When Evelyn walks through the door to find herself facing away while standing in front of three doors, she seems just as scared as the audience. As she repeats the process of opening the door in her mouth, more and more doors appear.
Other voices join in on saying the mantra, eventually switching to whispers. As she is alone and surrounded by doors, Evelyn grabs her chest and starts crying. It feels like she’s finally feeling the horrors that she has inflicted upon everyone else.
Wayward’s Finale Proves That Most Teens Can’t Escape The Horror Of The Troubled Teen Industry
The less surrealist horror of Wayward’s finale is the fact that almost nobody can seem to escape Tall Pines. The graduates of the school simply cycle into the town. Laura somehow got out, but she was even sucked back in. Unfortunately, the inability to escape makes Wayward all the more terrifying.
Three teens from Tall Pines Academy have the opportunity to escape the “therapy” school and the culty town in the finale. However, they end up representing three possible outcomes that are all too common when it comes to trauma.
Leila becomes the poster child for learned helplessness. She willingly goes back to the school, thinking there is no way out. Rory fights to get out but fails because he realizes it’s either him or Abbie. Of all the teens, only Abbie makes it out.
Ultimately, the effort to escape feels like a mix of horror and thriller to begin with. However, the end message about the ability to escape the troubled teen industry is scarier than anything supernatural. It’s real, and it’s terrifying to think teens go through such life-changing trauma.
Laura’s Culty Birthing Scene Will Haunt My Nightmares
A group of people surrounds Laura’s birthing tub in Wayward
Another aspect of the finale that feels like it’s ripped out of a horror movie is Laura’s culty birthing scene. Laura is going into labor, lying in an inflatable pool, and a ton of town members are towering over her. They start synchronizing their breathing with her, as if they’re all going through the birthing process.
Then, after Laura gives birth, Alex has his special moments as a father ripped away from him. A townsperson cuts the umbilical cord instead of Alex. Then, they start getting naked so they can take the baby from the parents to do skin-to-skin. They literally take the baby out of Alex’s hands, which feels so cruel, and in his mind, I could imagine it would be terrifying.
What makes it all worse is that Laura essentially declares that the baby belongs to everyone, which is the horror-ification of the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” There’s almost a dystopian, cult-like feeling to the scene, akin to The Handmaid’s Tale. Laura is essentially a vessel for the town’s baby, and Alex is removed from the picture immediately, even though he’s physically present and wants to be a father.
Wayward’s Finale Proves That Real-Life Horrors Are Just As Impactful As Supernatural Forces
Evelyn Wade looks sinister while sitting in a chair in episode 2 of WaywardCourtesy of Netflix
Wayward’s finale is the perfect example of horror grounded in reality that’s just as impactful as supernatural horror. The surreal horror that Evelyn experiences can be a reality to an individual with the use of abusive forms of drugs and brainwashing techniques. The doors in mouths are not occurring in a corporeal form, but they can happen in someone’s mind.
On top of that, Wayward is based on the actual troubled teen industry, making it a painfully realistic horror. Additionally, the birthing scene feels like something that could actually happen in a cult. After all, cults often have a reproductive element where it’s encouraged to indoctrinate children from birth.
Ultimately, the finale of Netflix’s Wayward is a testament to the fact that horror doesn’t have to be caused by a demon or shapeshifting alien clown for it to be impactful. Humans are responsible for some of the worst horrors that could ever exist.
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