New content appears on Netflix every week. Sometimes, even inconspicuous movies and series achieve great success. This happened in 2025 with a miniseries that even stole the 1st place in the charts from Wednesday.
Which series is it about? On September 25, 2025, a new miniseries titled Wayward – Unpredictable premiered on Netflix, mixing thriller with mystery elements. While it features a strong actress in Toni Collette, there wasn’t much hype
surrounding the series before its launch. September was all about the 2nd season of Wednesday.
However, Wayward still managed to secure the first place in the Netflix charts during its release week, which was previously held by Wednesday. With 8,200,000 views and over 48,800,000 hours watched, Wayward celebrated a huge success in just 4 days, despite tackling a difficult subject.
Mystery, shock elements, and Toni Collette
What kind of series is Wayward? Leila and Abbie are best friends, but because Abbie is causing trouble at school and her grades are not improving, her parents send her to Tall Pines Academy. This is a boarding school that tries to get difficult
students back on the right
track using special educational methods and structure. The academy is run by Evelyn Wade, played by Toni Collette.
Another part of the story focuses on the police officer Alex Dempsey, who has moved to Tall Pines with his wife. After he finds a runaway teenager from Tall Pines Academy, he begins to investigate. In doing so, he slowly uncovers a secret that affects not only the boarding school but the entire town.
As is common in such stories, the students at the boarding school are not doing well, and the unconventional
educational methods have a high shock factor. Those who have issues with themes such as bullying, humiliation, and at times even torture should avoid watching the series.
How is the series received? On Rotten Tomatoes, the series is received rather mixed. While the 54 critic reviews rate the series favorably at 78%, users are significantly more negative. With over 250 user reviews, the series only gets 47%.
What does MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes say about Wayward? Wayward could have benefitted from fewer episodes, as some story sections drag on. Nevertheless, the mystery aspect is worth a look, and although some characters remain a bit one-dimensional, especially Toni Collette impresses.
It is not the best Netflix series of the year, but especially for those who want to watch something that captures the spooky atmosphere around Halloween without being horror
, Wayward might be a good choice.
Have you seen Wayward? How did you find the series? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. Netflix has been able to create many major media phenomena with its series. We show you the 10 most successful here: The 10 most-watched series of all time on Netflix ranked – position 1 has even surpassed Wednesday
