Communa Reviews: Baby Reindeer (2024)
Richard Gard as Donny in Baby Reindeer.
Most times while scrolling through Netflix, I wait for a punchline; whether it is something witty in the dialogue or a cold opening to show the theme. I scan through my timeline and Netflix thinking “Does this appear entertaining?” It’s much easier to answer that when I look through the timelines of people I know who have demonstrated great taste with their film recommendations, but I rarely watch films on Netflix. But whenever I hit on something on that medium, it turns out great. I still can’t stop talking about Line of Duty, a British crime thriller series about an anti-corruption team that kept me on the edge of my seat circa 2021 and I think, sorry I know that I have found another fantastic gem called Baby Reindeer.
Baby Reindeer was released on streaming platforms on April 11th, 2024. It is a British dark comedy thriller drama adapted from the creator Richard Gadd’s autobiographical one-man show of the same name. It follows Richard Gadd (Donny) as he seeks to navigate an unfulfilling journey through life after failed attempts at starting a comedy career. His life takes an initially comic turn when Martha, played by Jessica Gunning, appears at his bar one day.
“I felt sorry for her, that’s the first feeling I felt”.
These are the words that begin what initially appeared to be a typical British Dark Comedy with heavy-handed uneasiness and loaded wit. I don’t know why I clicked on Baby Reindeer, the synopsis read “Struggling comedian and Barman Donny meets a lonely woman claiming to be a lawyer. He offers her a cup of tea ‘on the house’ and Martha’s instantly obsessed”. This is fine but it’s not exactly tearjerker, or ‘pulling at your heartstrings’ material, it gave off quirky uneasiness at best.
The first episode sets the stage, a down-on-his-luck Donny sees what initially appears to be an unassuming woman named Martha come to the bar and Donny feels pity because Martha appears to be sad, offers her a drink, in a way that would make her think ‘this is barman etiquette’ from his end, but unbeknownst to him, this singular act of kindness would haunt him for a very long time.
The dynamics slowly progress in the first episode as Martha comes into the bar every single day in different attires and make-up seemingly trying to impress him. Martha also starts telling exuberant lies to position herself as very influential in British politics and a very accomplished lawyer with properties all over the state.
All her words look far-fetched yet he indulges her till it becomes a running joke at the bar that he should marry his “girlfriend”. He’s very uninterested in pursuing romance with Martha but he can’t seem to stop indulging her whims. This progresses to her appearing at his comedy show unannounced and making him feel better about himself. This leads him to feel like he should continue despite feeling uneasy when he’s around her.
The first episode ends on a cliffhanger as she tells him she’s in love with him. This leads him to search for who this person is, and why he feels so uncomfortable around her. What Donny finds would define how their relationship would progress for the entirety of the show.
As time goes by layers and layers of both characters are peeled off as their relationship moves from harmless banter to awkward conversation to full-on harassment. You begin to wonder “Why has he allowed this fester for so long?”.
The answer reveals itself painfully in the following episode ‘Self loathe’. How much are you willing to sacrifice because you despise yourself? It is almost too simplistic to narrow it down to just Self Loathe but Baby Reindeer delves into several areas in assessment of the human condition, and its reaction to mental illness and repressed trauma. Baby Reindeer not only goes out of its way to express these themes, it never requires you to feel too much. Baby Reindeer provides earnestly human responses to dicey scenarios whilst never getting into sensationalism.
As the story progresses, the film takes us back into the past to reveal the basis of why the main character self-loathes. The protagonist does not start as a man bereft of attention that he covets from the bellies of danger. Donny starts as a bright-eyed upcoming comedian who moves to the big city looking for greater opportunities to bring his different brand of comedy to a larger audience. He starts at a dimly lit bar which describes where Donny is at mentally as he tries to revive a comedy career with little to no success. He gets a big break when he grabs a card off the bar to attend a party of writers and directors. As he socialises, Donny meets Darrien, a hot-shot director with a great eye for talent that will change his life. Darrien puts a battery in his back and makes him believe in himself unfortunately all that glitters is not gold.
Jessica Gunning as Martha
Watching the fourth and fifth episodes will have you very sympathetic about Martha but never condone the negative actions of the character. It provides context to every act yet never uses it as an excuse for any decision taken, consequences still happen.
The mini-series also explores the parts of the protagonist's life that have been negatively affected, from his home, work, comedy, and his complicated love life. He tries to understand why he doesn’t have the gumption to file a report on her. He eventually does and finally realises the scale of what is currently happening to him. The involvement of the police had slowed down the stalking, but he appeared to miss that feeling of drama and adulation, which led to him making some incredibly baffling decisions. The show is human in all its best ways. Rarely do I see a show start with a comedic tone and then slide into a much darker melancholy as it progresses without tripping on itself, it navigates it perfectly, maybe it’s because it’s a true story suffered by the writer but what a story.
The finale is best kept in secret, but the movie wraps itself up in such a lovely roundabout way and lands perfectly.
Verdict: I love this mini-series. Baby Reindeer starts slowly and maybe almost overindulges at times with the dynamics between the protagonist and the antagonist, but you get the reason why they do as time passes. This is also probably a ‘one-watch’ mini-series especially if it’s just for casual viewing. Very strong performances from Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning, and also a very special shout-out to Jason Finan who’s in the series for like 5 minutes but steals an entire scene with his dry wit and non-plus self demeanor. Baby Reindeer has a tight story and fantastic resolution with little mishaps of overindulgence when it comes to the stalking element of the relationship but the overindulgence is never enough to take away what is a very very good series. So if you are looking for a 7-episode mini series that makes you laugh and makes you cry? This is for you.