The new series Baby Reindeer on Netflix is popular. The series tells the true story of comedian Richard Gadd who was stalked for years. It’s a hit on Netflix and a lot of people are speculating about it. What makes it so popular?
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The Story of ‘Baby Reindeer’
This true-life series is about British comedian and bartender Donny Dunn. One day while he is working as a bartender, a woman named Martha walks in. He offers her a cup of tea on the house, after which she returns regularly. Endless stories at the bar result in an obsession with him. This leads to sending hundreds of emails a day and times when she becomes really dangerous. She stalks him, shows up at his shows, threatens his parents and attacks his dates. Donny tries to stop the stalking, but something in her makes him feel both guilty and threatened in these moments. As the series progresses, you get to know more intense parts of his background, which makes you discover that he had experienced very intense things before he met Martha. Ultimately he takes it to the police.
True story
Baby Reindeer makes it so very good because the actor Richard Gadd who plays the main character plays himself in Baby Reindeer. It is all based on his life, including the intense experiences in the past. He had to relive all of this, which makes it incredibly courageous that he played this role. During the years he was stalked, he received 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters and several gifts from his stalker. A bizarre number. The messages and emails you see in the series are the real emails Richard ever received.
Feelings
The feeling you have about Martha, the stalker, changes again and again. You get angry when she goes too far, but then you see a side of her that creates a feeling of empathy. He is a tragic character and one who remains complex and vulnerable until the end. That was exactly Richard Gadd’s intention when creating Baby Reindeer. In films and series, stalkers are often portrayed as someone who is bad, while they are often also people who are vulnerable. They don’t stop because they believe in the reality that is in their heads. It is a mental illness, for which you sometimes feel sorry. Of course, the manipulative aspect also plays a role in this.
Acting
The acting also makes the series great. Actors such as Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau and of course Richard Gadd are so good in their roles that the story, which is already true, feels even more real. Especially in emotional moments, the fantastic acting can often be admired through close-ups. It is not a very nice series, but it is an intense series that makes you think. It may be too intense for some, but there’s only one way to find out.
