Where was Wayward filmed? Revisiting key filming locations of the upcoming Netflix miniseries 

Wayward is an upcoming eight-part Canadian miniseries created by Mae Martin, premiering on Netflix on September 25, 2025. The show is set in a small, picture-perfect town that hides something much darker beneath the surface. At its core, it digs into the reality of the troubled teen industry, looking at how adults in power manipulate and control vulnerable kids under the guise of “rehabilitation.” Mae Martin not only created the series but also stars as Alex Dempsey and serves as showrunner alongside Ryan Scott.

The cast features Toni Collette as Evelyn Wade, Sarah Gadon as Laura Redman, Sydney Topliffe as Abbie, and Brandon Jay McLaren as Dwayne Andrews. The series includes eight episodes, each penned by a different writer apart from the showrunners, including Evangeline Ordaz, Mohamad El Masri, Kim Steele, Kayla Lorette, Alex Eldridge, and Misha Osherovich.

Filming started in mid-2024 in Ontario, mostly in and around Toronto. The show was initially titled Tall Pines and is produced by Objective Fiction and Sphere Media. Directors include Euros Lyn, Renuka Jeyapalan, and John Fawcett.

While it’s clearly a thriller, Wayward also looks at larger themes like institutional abuse, teen autonomy, and the long-term effects of control disguised as care. It’s personal for Martin, who said it’s a story they’ve been waiting to tell for years.

Why Toronto was chosen as the backdrop for Netflix’s Wayward

Filming for Wayward took place during the summer of 2024 in and around Toronto, Ontario. The production used a mix of urban, suburban, and rural spots to create the unsettling world of Tall Pines, the town at the heart of the story. Toronto has long been a go-to location for Netflix due to its flexibility and infrastructure, and for Wayward, it helped bring the show’s eerie tone to life.

One of the most notable filming spots was Millbrook, a small town located about an hour outside Toronto. On July 10, the crew shot scenes on King Street East between Union Street and Tupper Street. That stretch was transformed into a slice of Tall Pines, with its modest storefronts and small-town layout fitting the show’s atmosphere perfectly. Local news reports confirmed that filming drew some attention, with visible signage and set dressing giving the area a temporary makeover.

Back in Toronto, the production used residential neighborhoods to reflect the seemingly quiet surface of Tall Pines. These streets, lined with detached homes and tree-filled yards, helped frame the illusion of normalcy. But it’s that very normalcy that the show plays with; nothing in Wayward stays as it first appears. The cast and crew also filmed in wooded parks and forested areas around the city, giving them the natural backdrops needed for more isolated or tense scenes involving the teen program and its surroundings.

School campuses were likely used to portray the troubled teen facility itself. Toronto offers a range of publicly accessible buildings that can easily stand in for boarding schools or institutions. While specific campus names haven’t been confirmed, set photos show outdoor gathering spaces, fenced-in recreation areas, and long interior hallways, all common in Toronto’s college and private school campuses.

The show was shot over several months, beginning in early July and wrapping in mid-October 2024. That gave the team enough time to capture a range of seasonal looks from bright summer days to early fall’s cooler tone. The long daylight hours in summer were especially helpful for outdoor filming. No official soundstage or studio name has been listed, so most of the scenes appear to have been shot on location rather than in controlled indoor sets.

The mix of real neighborhoods, downtown storefronts, and open green spaces helped the series stay grounded while giving it room to build tension. Toronto’s ability to stand in for both familiar and vaguely unsettling places made it a strong fit. And with its long history of doubling for fictional towns, it isn’t surprising that Netflix and Mae Martin’s team picked it for Wayward.

Whether it’s the main street in Millbrook or a quiet trail outside the city, each location was chosen to hide something just out of sight, just like the town of Tall Pines itself.

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