Pain and trauma can take many different forms. They mutate, evolve, change and directly influence our perception of reality and what might happen in the next moments of our lives.

Each of us has a different reaction to the events that deeply mark us, and within each person’s response lie all those weaknesses that define us and our future.

They are often impossible to label, fleeting yet present, cumbersome, pressing and suffocating. One thing is certain, they are extremely private, and we never really share them completely.

Baby Reindeer, the miniseries written and interpreted by Richard Gadd – making the opus an actual autobiography – gives the audience a front-row seat to a deeply disturbing and concealed journey of self-analysis, painful and exhilarating at the same time.

Gadd, the actual ‘Baby Reindeer’ invites us into his own space, and, for better or for worse, leaving is not an option.

Released on April 11, Baby Reindeer boomed on Netflix, quickly becoming a global phenomenon, piquing subscribers’ interest all over the world.

The dark charm of its narrative, coupled with a particular and gradual feeling of discomfort that arises from the unfolding of events, finds confirmation and validation in the careful, deeply introspective and detailed writing of the protagonist himself.

Gadd lays his story in front of us without filters, slowly unveiling some chilling experiences that marked him to the point of changing him forever.

However, Baby Reindeer doesn’t fully exhaust its thematic and narrative potential by merely coming up with a stalking story. Instead, it uses the stalking itself as a starting point to dissect from within the life experiences of two people, each with their own specific baggage of experiences, traumas and demons to confront and – perhaps – finally defy.