Imagine going to a concert, bumping into a really attractive guy, and then getting followed and stalked by a madman. This one describes 2022 released movie, Wayward, which follows a girl named Dawn who decides to pick up a stranger with extremely good looks on her way to a music festival. While the two are on their way to the festival, they soon realize that some freak is following them.
The movie stars Iyana Halley in the lead role of Dawn, the girl on the way to the festival, alongside Barton Fitzpatrick as Micah, the guy she decides to give a lift. The movie’s only other important role is actor Darius McCarry as Anthony Demme.
Kurt Yochum directs the eighty minutes long movie and claims to be a thriller drama with great plot twists and commendable acting. The movie received mixed reviews right after its release, with some calling it predictable and dull and some commending the plot.
One thing that has not worked for the movie is the small cast of actors. In a movie with a plot as predictable as this one, the small cast does not leave much to the imagination, making it easier to guess the entire story.
Wayward Ending Explained
The movie, Wayward was directed by Kurt Yochum, who has also co-written the movie along with Steven Shea. The movie was released on June 14th, 2022, to the public. The movie starts with Dawn, played by Iyanna Halley, who is on her way to a huge and happening musical festival far from her place.
Since it would be quite a journey, she had her van where she could crash to take a break from all the driving. While on her way, she decides to stop by a cafe for coffee, where she bumps into a very charming stranger, who happens to be a man, and the two click right away.
While talking, Dawn tells about her final destination, the musical festival, and invites a random stranger to join her in her car to the music festival. The latter agrees, and the two are set on the journey. By this time, it is only right to doubt the guy, who goes by the name Micah, and curse Dawn for being so ridiculously stupid as to let a random man in her car voluntarily.
We soon realize that Micah might not even be the biggest problem for Dawn because while Dawn is driving her camper van, she soon notices somebody has been following them for quite some time. This somebody just might become a problem for the two to endanger their lives.
The two get stalked by a man in some Ford Bronco who turns out to be a man with serious issues, and he not only just stalks them but seems to have evil things in store for the two.
The Start of the Stalking
The movie is a dark thriller that still holds onto some aspects of humor throughout the movie. The banter between Micah and Dawn is entertaining. The movie has some unexpected plot twists and turns, but it still does not take away the fact that it is easy to guess who the antagonist in the movie is.
The duo, we find, was being followed by a crazy serial killer on lose who had a history of kidnapping ad murdering thirteen people, mostly girls. The serial killer had to have a ‘cool’ nickname to make him more impactful, so the writers called him the Mechanic Maniac.
Both Dawn and Micah get followed and stalked by the serial killer, the Mechanic Maniac. Throughout the seventy-seven minutes of the movie, there are barely any other characters of importance or worth suspecting, making it so easy to guess who the killer or the bad guy is.
What the makers could have done was to create a suspicious vibe around the good-looking Micah and even play around with Dawn’s character and give her something more than ‘just a girl on a road trip’ story. Even with just the three actors, they could have focused on the story to confuse the audience and make them guess who out of the three could be the crazy killer.
But they chose to go down the same rundown rabbit hole, making it easier for us to eliminate characters from our ‘who is killer’ list. Dawn is a sweet girl, and she is the one who offers Micah a ride to Portland, the place of the music festival. Micah is a guy anybody would like to trust, he is charming and attractive, meeting all the requirements of being a serial killer, but he is not the one either.
His True Identity
A man with an alias, the Mechanic Maniac, a very popular serial killer, just happens to be on the lookout for his next target when he spots these two. Dawn notices his Bronco behind her camper van and realizes he has been following them for too long.
The movie gives us some jumpscares but mostly lacks the suspense that one would want in a thriller like this. After guessing who the killer is, the movie has nothing to offer except for some background information about our killer.
By the end of the movie, the serial killer who supposedly is famous for killing thirteen people without any remorse ends up getting killed himself at the hands of Dawn, who also seems to have a little bit of crazy in her considering the way she was running in the woods while giggling like an innocent child. Something was off about her when she killed the serial killer, and she laughed that creepy laugh.
She seemed happy enough to have been the one who caught the infamous killer, and we realize that she knew all along that particular area was being terrorized by a serial killer, which is also why she asked Micah to follow her along to the music festival for her safety.
The movie, in the beginning, showed potential for being an engaging thriller with some dark psychological aspects. Still, the sheer obvious nature of the film ended up making it like any other bland horror flick with a low budget and bad screenplay.
The movie struggles with cheap props, bad editing, childish writing, and amateurish acting. It feels less like a horror drama and more like some 80s comedy, but weirdly makes for a good mindless activity.
Also Read: 40 Must-See Thriller Movies Based on Real-Life Events
