Series Review: Baby Reindeer

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Official synopsis: The story follows writer and performer Richard Gadd's warped relationship with a female stalker and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deep, dark buried trauma.

I'll admit to not knowing a ton about Baby Reindeer before I hit play on Netflix. I knew it was about a man and his stalker, but I didn't realize just how much trauma we'd eventually get into. Because of my ignorance, episode 4, the one dedicated to solely to a very traumatic series of events that happened to Donny Dunn (Gadd's name in the series) felt very jarring. I think Gadd is brave for sharing his story, but I probably should've done more research because I do not like to be caught off guard when it comes to sexual assault in media. 

It felt jarring because up until you get into Donny's past trauma, you're essentially watching "cringe cinema." Donny's stand up sucks, he doesn't set proper boundaries with Martha (Jessica Gunning) and we know he knows better via his narration. Moments start to go from cringe to rage every now and then. I was reminded of how I felt watching 2012's Compliance. If you know...you know. In fact, This has a lot in common with Compliance. Which is why I don't know if I can necessarily recommend it to everyone broadly.

Gadd and Gunning are fantastic. It will be a crime if both of their names are missing on Emmy morning. Gunning was so good that I'm worried I'll never be able to see her as anyone other than Martha moving forward. I hope not, but she is THAT good. Gadd having to relive all of this - and act out his own sexual assault cannot have been easy. He does a great job, even if the tone shift didn't work for me.

With all of that in mind, Baby Reindeer is 7 episodes and each are about 30-40 minutes long. It's a quick watch should you choose to dive in. 

Comments

  1. BirgitMay 10, 2024 at 11:08 AM

    This does sound quite interesting a d I hope it is shown on mainstream TV one day. I feel so bad for you when you see something so jarring. My mom, who had severe ptsd now that I think of it, was often in shock when they showed bombings or dead people in the snow because she was a sirvivor of the Hamburg bombings and Dresden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 13, 2024 at 2:18 PM

      Netflix did have a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode when I went back and looked, but I must have glanced away from the TV because I completely missed it. My fault.

      Delete
  2. thevoid99May 10, 2024 at 3:52 PM

    I'm not sure if I want to see this. Plus, I heard that Martha was talking to Piers Morgan of all people. That asshole is a cancer to the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 13, 2024 at 2:17 PM

      Piers Morgan sucks 99% of the time, which is why I hate it when he occasionally says something I agree with. (like criticizing Israel for not knowing how many civilians they've killed, or calling Prince Harry and Meghan Markle grifters) lol

      Delete
    2. thevoid99May 13, 2024 at 2:36 PM

      Oh I'm with you on that.

      Delete

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