I completely flipped out on the miniseries Baby Reindeer, from Netflix. Stephen King too.
The master of horror and suspense, who knows a thing or two about dark stories, even declared that Baby Reindeer was one of the best things he had ever seen. The author of Carrie, Cujo And Misery is one hundred percent right to dub this British miniseries, halfway between a horror film and a “fucked” psychological drama.
The seven episodes of around forty minutes Baby Reindeer (My little reindeer, in French version), which recount a very real case of unhealthy obsession, are terrifying and hypnotizing. And don’t be fooled by its childish title, which does not do justice to this super original television work, twisted, sometimes comical, often dark and of unsuspected depth.
Even if it is inspired by true events, Baby Reindeer does not classify in the real crime sector, our dear true crime loved it. Rather, it is a fiction inspired by the nightmare experienced by Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, who was harassed by a woman who was completely blown up – and very ill, it must be said – for several years.
What you will see in Baby Reindeer has indeed arrived. In the series, Richard Gadd plays a barely modified version of himself, Donny Dunn, a bizarre and unknown comedian who serves pints of beer in a London pub to make ends meet.
Mid-twenties Donny’s boring life changes dramatically the morning Martha Scott (excellent Jessica Gunning), who claims to be broke, sits at his bar, crying and troubled.
Donny takes pity on her and offers her a free cup of tea. Martha’s face then lights up and she introduces herself to Donny as a wealthy and influential lawyer, who has already defended former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron.
Right away, a first red flag goes up in Donny’s head: if Martha Scott is consorting with the political elite, why doesn’t she have the money to buy a simple Diet Coke? Martha, an overweight forty-year-old, will show up every day at Donny’s pub to shower him with compliments and entertain him with her bright laugh. Martha “affectionately” calls Donny her little reindeer, hence the title of the miniseries. But very quickly, Martha’s fascination shifts to the side of pure madness.
Over a period of four and a half years, Martha sent more than 41,000 misspelled emails and 350 hours of voicemails to her Donny, while bombarding him with comments on her Facebook page.
In addition to these electronic missives, Martha follows Donny home, becomes closer to his friends and infiltrates each of the shows he gives in obscure comedy clubs.
Really, Martha is crazy stiff. She is a professional stalker, who goes from childish vulnerability to psychopathic violence in the snap of her fingers.
There where Baby Reindeer slips into even more troubling territory, and that’s in the victim’s reaction. Why doesn’t Donny alert the police more quickly? Why does he wait so long before reporting Martha?
This is because, despite himself, Donny likes the attention that Martha gives him, even if it is extremely pernicious. Martha fills Donny’s need for validation, in the most perverse way possible. If Martha moves away for a short moment, Donny wonders: why is she rejecting me? A ballet of attraction-repulsion thus unfolds between the two protagonists, who will commit reprehensible actions on both sides. Both pull themselves downward, very low.
And like Martha, Donny falls into a destructive spiral of obsession. He listens again and classifies, according to their content, all of Martha’s voice notes to try to understand her. He even goes so far as to infiltrate her home to spy on her. He too becomes a stalker, of sorts, and the power dynamic shifts.
From the fourth episode, Baby Reindeer digs into Donny’s past to explain where his wounds came from and how his own mental health issues activated Martha’s, and vice versa.
It’s about dependency, aggression, grooming, sexual identity, shame and post-traumatic shock. The final scene, without giving anything away, is disturbing and leaves us with a punch that makes us let out a little cry of surprise.
Since it went online on April 11, the popularity of Baby Reindeer continues to swell on Netflix. The fan-detectives of the series (we all fall into some sort of vortex sometimes) even found the real stalker at the origin of the story to insult her and make her undergo her own medicine.
On the social network Instagram, the actor and creator of Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd, had to appeal for calm last week. Stop speculating about the true identities of the characters, he wrote, that’s not the point of the series.
In interview with the Daily Mailthe real Martha Scott, believed to be Fiona Harvey, 58, said she was the victim of Richard Gadd, who “is now harassing her on TV for fame and money”.
All that’s missing here is the “sent from my iPhone” notification – and a bunch of punctuation errors – so that reality completely merges with fiction. And it’s scary.
reference: www.lapresse.ca