Donny Dunn is the lead character of Baby Reindeer, a seven-episode mini-series now streaming on Netflix. The role of Dunn is played by Richard Gadd, who is also the creator of the show and adapted his personal life tragedy for the show.

Donny works at a pub in London, but his ambition is to become a stand-up comic. One day, Martha, a deranged woman, shows up at the bar weeping and with no money to pay. He serves her a cup of tea in an act of kindness, but it sets in motion a chain of events that involves constant stalking, ruined comedy routines, broken relationships, and digging up a certain part of Donny’s life he was careful not to unearth.

I won't mince words. I wanted to punch Donny Dunn every single time he chooses the wrong decision to make the situation complicated. But alas! This is life, as raw as it gets, and the scope for a cinematic catharsis is narrow.

When you're a broken, insecure person and someone stalks you, instead of protecting your privacy, you may find yourself wanting to console or cure the stalker, partly because you believe you deserve nothing and you're not worth anything.

It’s this compelling originality of vulnerability that strikes me most about this brilliant series. All the other fascinating things – the crisp narration, beautiful dialogue, bloody brilliant acting, and precision-cut editing – are all complementary.

Jessica Gunning, who played Martha, deserves all the love in the world.

With razor-sharp accuracy, Baby Reindeer shows why victims go back to their abusers, why reporting your stalker feels like betrayal, or why repeating mistakes, time and again, despite it having been proven that it will end up a mess, is unavoidable. Baby Reindeer is a harrowing but humane story. It's intriguing to the core, and excluding a few stretched subplots, the series portrays obsession and trauma through a clever comedic filter.

-ends-