Baby Reindeer: A True Story (Review)

Baby Reindeer is a show on Netflix about a man named Donny, who gets stalked by a mentally ill woman named Martha. This show was released on Netflix on April 11, 2024 in the UK. WGHS students Alayna McKinney and Emily Hernandez Sanchez give their opinions on this show. 
​by Malachi Lovett and Cheyenne Seagraves

Alayna McKinney (Junior) explains how it is a docu-series about a man who gets stalked by [a woman named Martha]. Based on his real life, [Martha's] in love with him and he’s trying to deal with that. Alayna saw it was really popular on TikTok; that’s what influenced her to watch it. She comments about the show saying, “I loved how it was based off a real story, and the guy it was actually based off of played the part, and he described Martha very well.”

When speaking of the main character she remarks, “I wish there was another [person] who he would’ve trusted to tell what happened.” She continued, “I wish he would’ve trusted his girlfriend to tell her what happened.” 

She felt really bad for him, but she thinks he shouldn’t have tried to do it on his own. She continues saying how Martha was such a bad person, and how she felt so bad for Donny when she was mentally abusing and physically abusing him, it just was not good. 

Alayna finishes with how she felt when Donnie went through his trauma and how the dad went through the same thing. She mentions, “I felt really bad, but I was a little happy for Donny because he could have someone to relate to.”

Like Alayna, Emily Hernandez Sanchez (Junior) also learned about the show because of TikTok. She remarks, “I was eyeing it for a while but it didn't really catch my attention until it started getting popular on TikTok”. She liked how in depth the perspective of the main character was, “It was very well made to the point where you can actually feel the emotions that the main character was feeling.” 

She also liked how the show was a true story, and the man in the real life situation played the actor in the show. “That makes it more creepy because it was the worst part of his real life that he had to relive…” She continues, “Martha was really crazy. Like it was really bad to the point where I was feeling real sympathy for the main character like Donnie himself, the things Martha was doing were so crazy you really did feel for him.”

She says his actions kind of made her feel like a disappointed mother, “...why would you do that when you know the consequences that can occur?” Martha’s actions in the show made her feel very uncomfortable. She says it was very creepy.

Emily didn’t catch on to what the dad was insinuating when he stated he was raised in a Catholic church, “I thought he was saying that he was homophobic.”

The show Baby Reindeer gets its name from when Fiona Harvey, the woman Martha is based off, would call Richard Gadd “baby reindeer” in her emails. She would call him this because she said he looked like a reindeer toy she had as a kid.