Netflix hit earns 100% Rotten Tomatoes score but ‘shocks’ and ‘disgusts’ fans

Baby Reindeer, Netflix’s newest hit, has both horrified and enthralled fans.

The psychological thriller, based on a disturbing true story, currently has a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and is the top-rated film on Netflix in the United Kingdom.

The series is based on Richard Gadd’s real-life encounter with a stalker, which he first depicted in a one-man show with the same title. Gadd, 34, also portrays the lead character in the popular series.

Gadd plays comic Donny Dunn, and the show revolves around his relationship with a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning), who becomes obsessed with Donny and changes his life forever.

While she appears harmless and friendly at first, Martha soon begins bombarding Donny with thousands of emails and voicemails, as well as unexpected visits to his workplace and home.

Things only get worse from there, with Martha’s dark obsession leading to scenes that have left many viewers shaken.

Some have taken to social media to express their complex feelings about the show:

While fans agree that Baby Reindeer is a difficult watch, most think it’s well worth the stress, with many calling it the ‘best show of the year.’

When asked about why he decided to relive his trauma and tell his story, Gadd told The Times: ‘When a man gets stalked it can be portrayed in films and television as a sexy thing.

‘Like a femme fatale who gradually becomes more sinister. It doesn’t carry as much threat of physical violence, is less common and can be trivialised. I was physically scared because I didn’t know how far she could take it, she could have a knife, but I did think how terrifying it would be if she was a tall scary man.’

Gadd has also shared that the experience left him with something ‘like PTSD’ and led him to seek out ‘every type of therapy going’.

He added: ‘I am way more cautious around people now. It takes me a long time to trust them. Before, I entered situations with such abandonment and I got burnt.’

Gadd also previously told Netflix Tudum: ‘Stalking on television tends to be very sexed-up. It has a mystique. It’s somebody in a dark alley way. It’s somebody who’s really sexy, who’s very normal, but then they go strange bit by bit.

‘But stalking is a mental illness. I really wanted to show the layers of stalking with a human quality I hadn’t seen on television before. It’s a stalker story turned on its head. It takes a trope and turns it on its head.’

He continued that it was ‘challenging’ to revist ‘the worst period’ of his life, saying: ‘It’s running back towards an awful fire you’ve been in.’

According to fan’s explosive reactions to the series, Gadd’s decision to explore his trauma through his art has more than paid off.

Baby Reindeer is available to watch on Netflix.

Source My Celebrity Life.