I can't say I liked Baby Reindeer - it's a darkly frustrating watch to see so much abuse and self hatred - but it is a well told, powerful (true) story. We have stalking, grooming, rape, sexual deviance, body dysmorphia, self harm... the list goes on. Watching Baby Reindeer is like getting dragged through the sewage of a neurotic therapy purge.
The acting is very good - very believable. The vibe is darkly comic, very 'in the face' with lots of close ups. Voice-over throughout, arty, and quick moving - I've heard that a lot of people 'binge watch' the series in one go.
I have certainly known some Donnies and Martha's in my time working alongside social services in deprived neighbourhoods. Superficially friendly but needy, deluded, compulsive liars and manipulators - desperate for attention. In that respect Baby Reindeer is all too common and sadly familiar.
A major theme of this story is mental illness and how it feeds off the neurosis of others. Donnie's neediness masquerades as compassion and his self hatred as submission - desperate for a loving father in his life. Of the main characters I would say that only Donnies X-girlfriend and her mum (minor characters) seem anything like 'normal' or 'healthy' - everyone else is confused, afraid, and tormented to some extent.
On a more positive note another theme is authenticity. How honesty and truthfulness are always the path to liberation and reconciliation. And also how you can only get rid of your demons if you make them your enemies rather than trying to make them your friends. However - My feeling by the end of the story is that it never truly does either but leaves us feeling like it could all just happen again (especially now, in a twist of irony, Donnie has hit the big time with a Netflix hit) - so it's an honest but ultimately tragic tale in which we are all culpable.
The acting is very good - very believable. The vibe is darkly comic, very 'in the face' with lots of close ups. Voice-over throughout, arty, and quick moving - I've heard that a lot of people 'binge watch' the series in one go.
I have certainly known some Donnies and Martha's in my time working alongside social services in deprived neighbourhoods. Superficially friendly but needy, deluded, compulsive liars and manipulators - desperate for attention. In that respect Baby Reindeer is all too common and sadly familiar.
A major theme of this story is mental illness and how it feeds off the neurosis of others. Donnie's neediness masquerades as compassion and his self hatred as submission - desperate for a loving father in his life. Of the main characters I would say that only Donnies X-girlfriend and her mum (minor characters) seem anything like 'normal' or 'healthy' - everyone else is confused, afraid, and tormented to some extent.
On a more positive note another theme is authenticity. How honesty and truthfulness are always the path to liberation and reconciliation. And also how you can only get rid of your demons if you make them your enemies rather than trying to make them your friends. However - My feeling by the end of the story is that it never truly does either but leaves us feeling like it could all just happen again (especially now, in a twist of irony, Donnie has hit the big time with a Netflix hit) - so it's an honest but ultimately tragic tale in which we are all culpable.