Baby Reindeer | Limited Series | Netflix

Netflix Limited series, Baby Reindeer is surprisingly based on real events. You just can’t make this shit up either, the brutally dark and shady story sets the tone immediately as something lighthearted. However, as lightly as the narrative embarks on rolling out its red carpet story there are soft peaks of insidious flavor trapped under the surface.

Writer and also cast in the lead role of Donnie Dunn, Richard Gadd’s true story unfolds like a car crash. Unable to look away and yet, a few times needing a small time out, Baby Reindeer will make you think about lots of bleak and sordid ideas. The title throws light on themes such as sexual violence, the notion of discovering a more fluid sexuality, and why sometimes, toxic relationships serve a purpose.

Until of course, in hindsight it turns into a life ruining nightmare.

TV Mini-Series, Baby Reindeer 2024

The series, now available on Netflix since April 12, 2024, boasts 8 jaw dropping episodes that fly by in what feels like an instant. They’re not brief; rather, the series is packed with substantial globs of nail biting drama that sticks to you from the start. With a story so addictive, you’ll find yourself compelled to binge-watch with unwavering attention.

The series concentrates most of its attention on the ordeal led by Donnie’s stalker. A woman called Martha, with serious mental health issues, finds solace in his ability to be empathetic. She becomes a familiar casual habit. He becomes an eternal one.

Gadd puts his finger on the pulse of why someone would be drawn to unwanted behavior, what it meant for him, and the path he went down trying to understand it. Within the confines of his initial naivety, she represented a good deed.

Drawing from a non-linear timeline, the story is guided by Donnie’s state of mind throughout his cathartic journey. While Baby Reindeer sets out from the moment he meets Martha, it’s really a story about his traumatic past and how human beings could choose to process that.

The narrative also leans insanely intimately into Donnies ability to navigate his sexuality preferences. And it’s completely mesmerising.

You Meets FleaBag in the Limited Series, Baby Reindeer

For a review of the series You 2018 follow this link for more Netflix series recommendations. For another review of Baby Reindeer, read from the Ready Steady Cut website.

“That I might not feel that way if he hadn’t done what he did.”

Quote from the biographical mini series, Baby Reindeer

The series expertly handles the notion of living with trauma and why interactions and encounters after something bad happens to us are often skewed. Donnie floats through life wanting to fit in, wanting to hit the big time, and believing the people that didn’t want the best for him. He is used, spit out, and left to ponder why. In a world of ugliness, Martha provided a minor source of appreciation he wasn’t able to find anywhere else. Even if she was a stalker.

Towards the end of the Baby Reindeer series, Gad does explain his inability to be able to report her to the police sooner. He describes the debilitating realization that his past carried more dire crimes that Martha was able to enact. He couldn’t prosecute his more serious offenders, how could he punish someone who didn’t know any better?

“But it mattered. It mattered because this is what he wanted. This is what he saw in me all along. Then a feeling so bitter I could almost catch it in my throat. That he’d been vindicated somehow.”

Quote from Baby Reindeer 2024

What Happened to Martha in Baby Reindeer?

In an article by The Daily Mail, the actor and writer of Baby Reindeer confidently clarified that his portrayal of her in the series steers clear of villainizing her. Instead, he opted to highlight the significant impact of mental health struggles. This aspect is a valuable difference from other portrayals that litter the graveyard of stalker movies throughout their history on screen.

In the fast-moving Netflix narrative, Martha is depicted receiving a jail sentence for her past transgressions before meeting Donnie. Gadd, however, maintains an air of mystery regarding the real-life conclusion of his stalker’s story, revealing only that the situation has been settled. He was adamant about not pursuing a prison sentence for someone grappling with serious mental health issues.

Baby Reindeer is rated

4.5 When your stalker wants it up the chute out of 5

The True Story Behind Baby Reindeer