A Closer Look at the Real-Life Inspiration in Netflix's 'Wayward'

In the hit Netflix series Wayward , the thriller-drama revolving around the inner workings and dark secrets of a fictional school for troubled teenagers, the devil is in the details. The eight-episode limited series traces dual fictional narratives that overlap at a remote institution in a small Vermont town, vividly creating glimpses of the troubling abuse of the teenagers being “treated , ” within — and it’s tantamount to torture in many instances. While its primary characters — two wayward high school besties who become trapped at the campus; the institution’s intimidating and enigmatic founder; and a young married couple, one with secrets about the school and the other with ambitions to reveal them — mostly have the feel of composite versions of the young people sent to these sc