Baby Reindeer’s twisted tale of obsession has taken the world by surprise. Inspired by the series creator Richard Gadd’s true experience with stalking, Netflix’s latest hit reveals the darkest corners of the human mind.
Each episode of Baby Reindeer flips the story upside down, keeping the audience in a constant state of tension. The story of a man (Gadd) avoiding his stalker (Jessica Gunning) might sound straightforward. Yet, the sick game of cat-and-mouse that unfolds before your eyes is both addictive and deeply disturbing.
Baby Reindeer has one problem though — how quickly you’ll binge it. With only seven half-hour episodes, you’ll probably finish Baby Reindeer in one sitting, leaving you eager to find new dark tales of lies and deceptions. Fortunately, you don’t need to change streaming services to scratch your Baby Reindeer itch because Netflix has other delightfully unsettling thrillers you can watch next.
BEEF
Part of what makes Baby Reindeer so fascinating is watching how a simple gesture can snowball into unspeakable nightmares. While BEEF never gets as scary as Baby Reindeer, the series follows a similar principle, pitting Steven Yeun against Ali Wong in an unnerving battle of wits. The two protagonists get entangled after a road rage incident. Since each part of the conflict believes they deserve compensation, they feed a neverending cycle of pettiness and revenge. However, what begins as relatively innocent pranks quickly escalate into acts of violence and destruction. BEEF is a fascinating Netflix original show, elevated by both Wong and Yeun arguably delivering the best performances of their brilliant career.
You
If, for any reason, you’ve been avoiding You, let Baby Reindeer guide you to one of the best Netflix original series ever. Starring the phenomenal Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg — a serial killer with a conscience —You is a brilliant exploration of how far people go to justify their most despicable actions. Each season of You brings something new to the table, subverting expectations and never allowing the story to get stale. Plus, since the story is told through the serial killer’s eyes, you sometimes forget he’s a villain. Few things are as scary as relating to a gruesome killer, so You should be on your radar if you enjoyed Baby Reindeer.
Finally, Joe will stick around longer, as Netflix already has four full seasons of the series available, with the fifth and last season expected to hit the streaming platform sometime in 2024.
Baby
It is not only in Hollywood that good thrillers are made. Baby is an Italian three-season TV show that follows two teenage girls in Rome, played by Benedetta Porcaroli and Alice Pagani. Together, the duo slowly gets involved with a ring of underaged prostitution while looking to escape the monotony of their privileged lives. However, what starts as a game for the girls soon becomes a nightmare, as they have to hide their secret lives from family and friends, knowing they are forever bound to some perilous people.
The subject of underaged prostitution can make your skin crawl sometimes, especially when you realize that Baby is based on a true story, just like Baby Reindeer. Still, if you are looking for TV shows that explore the darkest corners of the human experience, Baby is the show for you.
Mindhunter
Mindhunter follows two FBI agents who are determined to understand what makes some people become killers. Based on a true story, the David Fincher series retells how the term “serial killer” was coined and builds a breathtaking story involving some of America’s most famous criminals, from Ed Kemper to Charles Manson. The production value of Mindhunter turns it into one of the best investigative thrillers ever forged, with the whole cast committing to playing historical characters faithfully.
It’s frightening to delve into the crimes of real people and learn how their mind works, but Mindhunter is an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys Baby Reindeer. There is a catch, though. While Fincher had initially planned five seasons for Mindhunter, only two seasons are available on Netflix. While the series was not officially canceled, the show has been on an extended hiatus since 2020.
Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
Contrary to every other recommendation in this list, there’s nothing fictional about Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. While real-life events inspire TV shows such as Baby Reindeer, Don’t F**k with Cats is a docuseries, meaning it uses pure reality as its raw material.
The series explores a crowd-funded manhunt that began after a video of a man killing two cats became viral. People horrified by the man’s action wanted to find him and bring him to justice. The killer, on his turn, started to make even more brutal videos to remain in the spotlight. Don’t F**k with Cats shows how disturbingly easy it is to use the internet to stalk people. At the same time, the World Wide Web is also a tool for perpetrators to hide their identities.
Finally, the docuseries shows how things can escalate to a point where all hell breaks loose, making one wonder if the people who give killers attention are also responsible for the crimes they do to get exposure.