Text and cover image by Anja Stroka.
Based on a true story, the British ‘Baby Reindeer’ (on Netflix since April 11, 2024) is a tragic reenactment of Richard Gadd’s true experience with a tenacious stalker named Martha who drives Donny Dunn, the main character, to the edge of his sanity. Martha presents herself as a struggling individual in need of company. In an attempt to comfort her with kindness, Donny finds himself caught in a helpless, life-changing situation. Why does everyone keep talking about baby Reindeer obsessively?
Meeting the stalker
In the opening scene of ‘Baby Reindeer’, Martha walks into a London bar called ‘The Heart’, where Donny works as a bartender. Martha, appearing troubled, seeks emotional support from Donny. What starts as a single visit evolves into a weekly meeting, and it slowly grows into a daily, relentless conversation between the two. Martha’s infatuation grows abnormally to the point where Donny feels immobilised in all aspects of his life. This includes his relationship with Teri, his love interest, and jeopardising the safety of his landlord and former girlfriend’s mother, with whom he still shares a home. Martha’s presence is pervasive, leading him to all-consuming paranoia.
Baby Reindeer has been praised for its accurate portrayal of stalking behaviour and psychological suffering, including conditions such as PTSD. Richard Gadd, the creator, stated: “Stalking is a mental illness. I really wanted to show the layers of stalking with a human quality I hadn’t seen on television before”.
The ‘Baby Reindeer’ phenomenon
By early May, Baby Reindeer on Netflix had already premiered in 80 countries, garnering 22 million global views. But what contributed to this success? As the drama unfolds, Baby Reindeer manages to raise plausible questions regarding the psychological condition of the two main characters involved, Martha and Donny Dunn. While the two are both victims of their own doing, the relationship tropes that arise are highly influenced by their previous experiences. Donny Dunn, a struggling comedian, finds himself in yet another complicated situation with a troubled individual. Having struggled previously with sexual abuse and malicious intent, Donny falls right into the familiar patterns of his stained past. Similarly, Martha, a previously convicted stalker, gains the slightest bit of attention from a kind individual and spirals into her obsessive ways. Psychologists, drawing from Sigmund Freud’s previous studies on behavioural repetition, have termed this Baby Reindeer behaviour ‘compulsive regression’, referring to the human tendency to follow old, familiar footsteps as a way of seeking safety.
Is Martha a victim, too?
While the sequence of events presents Donny as the victim, it’s difficult to identify the villain. Donny is portrayed as the main character, while Martha embodies the characteristics of the antagonist. Darrien, Donny’s previous abusive mentor, who repeatedly grooms and causes serious sexual and psychological harm to him, is left in a sort of purgatorial limbo, marking him as the villain of Donny’s previous untold story. Different from Martha, who is ‘sick’ and can’t help her intrusive tendencies, Darrien is portrayed as a sinister individual, inflicting intentional pain and suffering on Donny. However, it is clear that Donny is not necessarily trapped in his relationship with Martha; he has actively and intentionally engaged with her continuously throughout the seven episodes of Baby Reindeer. A sense of hypocrisy arises when Donny turns to the police against Martha but attempts no such thing towards Darrien.
Internet searches booming after ‘Baby Reindeer’
Viewers tend to form a connection with the main character from the start. The story is narrated by Donny, making it impossible for us viewers to blame the character at the centre of the situation. In Baby Reindeer, Gadd also builds suspense using scenic repetition throughout the show, allowing the audience to see familiar settings with differing narratives. After Donny’s situation, the internet has been filled with attempts to uncover the real people responsible for Donny’s troubles. Accusations have been flying, with Fiona Harvey coming forward and admitting to being the tormented stalker. However, Darrien’s true identity remains a mystery, although some fans believe that the malicious character might be based on Sean Foley, who was wrongly accused. Numerous media outlets have discussed the challenges of portraying real-life trauma accurately, inadvertently creating additional victims caught in the whirlwind of the media’s quest to uncover every detail.
Professional responses on the plot
While Baby Reindeer has soared to extraordinary heights and has gained acclaim as a top-streaming Netflix show since its release, other influential figures in the film and literary industries have come forward with intriguing opinions. Stephen King has reported on X (formerly Twitter) that he has written an essay on the thought-provoking show, where he comments on the genius nature of the unravelling of events and the incredible insight of the human mind.
