The Story of Millions – A Review of Baby Reindeer
In April 2024, Baby Reindeer, a British thriller and black comedy miniseries was released on Netflix, and nothing proves its significance better than the six Primetime Emmy Awards it had won in September this year. Baby Reindeer is based on Richard Gadd’s one-man theatrical show (like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, which premiered in 2016), which was inspired by his real-life experiences (so much so that the real-life Martha, Fiona Harvey sued Netflix for her portrayal), thus providing a unique perspective of personal trauma. Gadd, the writer and director of the series also appears onscreen as the main character, Donny Dunn, the aspiring comedian whose life went downhill. Although the viewers follow the struggles of one person, it is fair to ask how many millions of stories Gadd had shared through Donny’s character.
Is it only going downhill from here? – managing a quarter-life crisis
Each phase of a person’s life entails its own hardships and challenges, but perhaps the most difficult and transformative period is what we go through from age 18 to 30. It is during this era that people are expected to build the foundations of their adult life. Safe to say that the choices we make during these years determine how we will live the rest of our lives, so no wonder why many young people crack under the pressure and sink into a quarter-life crisis.