Viewers think they’ve figured out which notorious school inspired Netflix’s new chilling drama Wayward.
The eight-part series tells the story of Alex (Mae Martin), a cop investigating a teen institution known as Tall Pines Academy, where manipulation and abuse are central to the twisted events.
After discovering dark and deeply rooted secrets in the town, Alex teams up with two students, Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind), and begins suspecting that the school’s mysterious leader, Evelyn (Toni Collette), is at the center of all the town’s problems.
A fictional town with disturbingly real origins
In interviews, creator Martin has been clear: Wayward is not based on one true story - but it is inspired by one real friendship.
“The story is based on my best friend, Nicole,” they explained, per Forbes. “
She was taken over the border and handcuffed in the middle of the night, and she was gone for two years. She ended up ultimately escaping on bare feet through the woods and hitchhiking across the state, and was in a very dangerous situation.”
Martin described Nicole’s experience at one of these so-called “therapeutic” institutions as traumatic and dehumanizing. Nicole now serves as a consultant on the show and even makes a cameo appearance.
“She’s very happy to have the story told,” Martin said.
“It’s also emotional because these places do exist.”
Reddit sleuths believe they found the real inspiration
While Wayward never names a specific school, online sleuths believe it closely mirrors the now-defunct Elan School in Poland, Maine - a facility infamous for its alleged abuse and cult-like methods before it was shut down in 2011.
“This seems 100% based on the Elan School and the documents and documentary about it,” one Reddit user wrote, while another said: “I saw many parallels to Elan School too,” and a third shared: “This is basically the Elan School and the documentary about it is horrifying.”
Though Martin hasn’t confirmed a direct link to Elan, they’ve acknowledged the broader influence of the troubled teen industry, including its historical ties to self-help cults and profiteering off vulnerable families.
In Wayward, Collette plays Evelyn Wade, the school’s enigmatic and possibly deluded headmistress.
“She absolutely believes that she’s a healer, and she's full of altruism and here to help and guide and help people raise their vibrations into a happy existence. That's how I saw her. She believed what she was doing was the right thing," the 52-year-old actress shared.
Sarah Gadon, who plays Alex's pregnant wife, Laura, and is a former student of the school, described her arc as one of painful self-discovery.
"She’s creating what she thinks will be a beautiful family, but when she returns home, she is confronted with her experience at the school and her relationship with Evelyn. I think that at times, she feels very much a victim, but then I think ultimately, she is trying to reclaim herself and in so doing, reclaim Tall Pines," she shared.
The cast was given firsthand materials to help ground the story in reality. “At the beginning of the series, Mae wrote us a beautifully written document that should be published about their friend's experience in one of these schools,” Lind said.
Topliffe recalled a close call: “This is a wild story, because literally, when I was auditioning for it, someone I know was about to send someone to one of these places, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna go. And it sounds incredible.’ And then they looked at Reddit, and they were like, ‘Oh, shoot, it’s one of these schools.’ They were about to sign over guardianship."
Though the Netflix series uses genre elements of mystery and horror, its emotional core is rooted in truth.
“My teens were so visceral,” Martin told The Wrap. “I remember forensically every moment of that period of my life, and I particularly remember feeling a keen sense of injustice at the world.
"I wanted to explore how young people know who they are and they have a strong moral compass, and then we all, as we get older, have to suppress our critical thinking to participate in the world."
Martin added: “You don't have to dial up the horror too much. The more you research [these schools], there is a lot of information about missing kids and all kinds of abuse and neglect.”
Wayward is now streaming on Netflix.