Summary

Baby Reindeer
astounds with its initial charm turning disturbing, earning high praise from horror king Stephen King.
The series’ unexpected success, minimal promotion leveraged word of mouth, surprising viewers with gripping storytelling.
Fans are urged not to speculate on the real-life identities behind
Baby Reindeer
‘s haunting characters.

Stephen King shared his very short but accurate view on Netflix’s stalker drama Baby Reindeer. As someone who has created his fair share of disturbing characters, it seems that the dark and troubling events of the series, which are inspired by real events, have affected even the world’s most renowned horror writer.

Created by and starring Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer is adapted from Gadd’s own one-man show, and recounts his harrowing experiences of being stalked and sexually assaulted in his 20s. The seven-episode series, begins fairly innocently with Gadd’s comedian Donny meeting Martha and offering her a free cup of tea while working in a pub. However, Martha very quickly becomes obsessed with Donny, and things escalate very quickly from there.

Baby Reindeer (2024) 4.5/5 Baby Reindeer is a dark comedy series based on a true story and a stage play of the same name. It centers around Gus, a barista who becomes the focus of an intense and unsettling obsession by one of his customers, Martha. After a seemingly harmless interaction, Martha’s fascination with Gus spirals out of control and begins to wreak havoc on his life.Release Date April 11, 2024 Cast Richard Gadd , Jessica Gunning , Danny Kirrane , Nava Mau Seasons 1 Writers Richard Gadd Directors Weronika Tofilska , Josephine Bornebusch

King often shares his thoughts on the movies and TV shows he has been indulging in, and Baby Reindeer’s tale of obsession and dependence has thematic similarities to King’s own classic Misery. When it comes to his astute review of Baby Reindeer, the author praised the series with a very striking statement on his X/Twitter account.

The power of the series comes from its initial deception of gently lulling viewers into the belief that the story is a quirky one of an over-friendly admirer – the set-up of many comedy movies over the years – but its switch to a much more unsettling scenario has struck a chord with many and seen the show rocketing to the top of Netflix’s TV charts. King’s reaction will no doubt have driven even more people to check out the series in the last couple of days.

Baby Reindeer Has Been a Surprise Hit on Netflix

Critically, Baby Reindeer has been a resounding success, with high scores on Rotten Tomatoes—97% from critics and 84% from audiences – and a place at the top of Netflix’s daily TV chart over several days. In claiming the number one position, the fairly low-key series pushed aside the big-budget sci-fi series 3 Body Problem. The impact of the series certainly flies in the face of the belief that huge productions and expensive marketing campaigns are required.

The minimal pre-release promotion by Netflix, something that was in stark contrast to the multiple trailers that many shows and movies receive ahead of their debut, allowed audiences to find the series on their own, and be shocked and surprised by what they discovered. Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools in the world, and as social media lit up with the intriguing title that many people knew nothing about, it was enough to drive viewers to the show.

Baby Reindeer has already done everything required of it and more for Netflix, but the series has also found itself being drawn into talk of having a good chance of making an impact on the Emmys. While there are many strong contenders circling the upcoming nominations’ announcement, a series like Baby Reindeer, which does not rely on a fandom or past franchise connection, could become a shock winner in a battle against some much bigger projects.

Baby Reindeer Has Instigated an Online Hunt for the Real Versions of Some Characters

The success of the show has also seen many viewers turning detective in an attempt to work out the real-life inspirations behind the series. In the last week, Jessica Gunning, who stars as the dangerously obsessive Martha, urged fans to stop trying to discover the identities behind the characters and just focus on the show itself. She said in an interview on BBC Scotland’s The Edit:

“If you like the show and you are a fan of it, you should stick with the story of Martha and Donny being what connects you, not trying to do any detective work and find out any real identities.”

Related Baby Reindeer Stars Urge Fans to Stop Doing ‘Detective Work’ and Harassing People There are plenty of theories on who Baby Reindeer’s Martha and Darrien are based on, but the series’ stars plead with viewers to cease speculation.

Gadd himself addressed the problem of viewers picking out people they believed to be the real-life counterparts of the characters in the series, particularly singling out British actor, writer, and director Sean Foley, who was targeted by online hate when “deduced” to be the real version of the character Darrien, one of Donny’s abusers in the show. Gadd said:

“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation. Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That’s not the point of our show .”

Baby Reindeer
is now streaming on Netflix.