The success of the series puts Netflix back on the streaming crest

Richard Gadd is the creator and protagonist of Bebê Rena, a series in which he portrays real episodes from his life – Photo: Disclosure/Netflix

The British Baby Reindeer (Baby Reindeer) is the most talked about series at the moment. The dense thriller with sarcastic humor, also with a strong dramatic charge, replaced the Netflix on the crest of streaming. It has been a while since the platform delivered to subscribers a product that combines quality, audience and impact.

Launched worldwide on April 11, Bebê Rena became a topic on social media in recent weeks. With 7 episodes, it follows comedian Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd), who is pursued by a mysterious and psychotic woman, Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning).

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The plot is inspired by real episodes experienced by Richard Gadd, who is the protagonist and creator of the miniseries. The facts also inspired a play he released in 2019. The actor says he was chased by a stalker in 2017, when he was bombarded with messages from her daily.

From April 15th to 21st, Bebê Rena led the ranking of Netflix’s most watched series in the world, with almost 53 million hours watched. The second and third placed, Unlocked: An Experiment in Prison and The 3-Body Problem, did not exceed 30 million.

With the great buzz, it didn’t take long for the first assumptions to emerge about the identities of the characters portrayed, which includes an actor who had sexually abused Gadd. He, however, has already spoken out for the anonymity of the people involved in the real story.

Baby Rena handles drama, comedy and suspense with dexterity

Baby Reindeer begins as a dramatic comedy with touches of suspense. The tension is rising – get ready for the fourth episode! –, with several developments and twists when dealing with distressing topics, such as stalking, mental health and rape.

The great merit is being able to handle so many styles – drama, comedy and suspense – and getting them all right. There was a risk of deviating from the original proposal, embracing such antagonistic genres. However, the dexterity in uniting them is possibly the series’ greatest virtue.

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In addition to justifying the position occupied by the streaming giant – leader in number of subscribers in the world –, Netflix’s new success should be the company’s main success in the next TV awards season. It will be a tough competition in the miniseries categories.

The attraction boosts the morale of Netflix, which for some years has been accused of offering “more of the same”, focusing on the quantity of titles to the detriment of the quality of these productions. With extremely high quality, Bebê Rena is among the best original productions ever made on the platform.

Watch the trailer for Baby Rena, a Netflix series:

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