Netflix fans already drawing parallels between haunting Louis Theroux documentary and Baby Reindeer-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Netflix viewers are already drawing parallels between a haunting new Louis Theroux documentary and Baby Reindeer.

The hit seven-part series which landed on our screens April was an instant success, and followed comedian Donny Dunn (played by Richard Gadd) stalked by a Scottish woman named Martha (played by Jessica Gunning).

His ordeal begins from a seemingly friendly encounter, to being sent thousands of emails when Martha’s obsession grows and turns sinister, as she begins waiting outside his house, sexually assaults him, harasses his parents and turns violent towards his girlfriend.

Viewers were hooked on the dark series, and the reports that followed its release, as more details about the ‘true story’ it was based on emerged when the ‘real Martha’, said to be Fiona Harvey, came to light and spoke out in multiple interviews and an explosive Piers Morgan grilling.

Now however, Netflix and Sky viewers have become hooked on a new show, and have drawn comparisons between the two.

Theroux’s Tell Them You Love Me has soared into Netflix’s top 10 most-watched films in English globally, placing at number 7 with 3,700,000 views, after its release on June 14 in America, but can be watched on Sky on this side of the pond.

Viewers are comparing Tell Them You Love Me to Baby Reindeer (Picture: Ed Miller/Netflix / Avalon)

The new Netflix and Sky doc has viewers horrified (Picture: Sky)

The documentary follows the true story between a married white professor and a Black man with cerebral palsy, whose mother alleges can’t consent.

Fans are hooked and comparing it to Baby Reindeer, with @ReallyJen writing on X: ‘I haven’t finished watching Baby Reindeer. After watching Tell Them You Love Me I don’t think I can stand it lol.’

@KittyKa2021 said: ‘Tell them you love me is the most effed up thing I’ve watched since baby reindeer but even more. Disgusting.’

‘Yeah, I couldn’t make it through 15 mins of that Tell Them You Love Me doc on Netflix. Just nasty…’ @ChrystalBrielle added.

@mrsunserious echoed: ‘I got 20 minutes into Tell Them You Love Me on Netflix, then shut it off. Very unsettling.’

‘I came to this story originally via a New York Times article, maybe 10 years ago, and I was riveted by it,’ Theroux told Netflix’s Tudum, about the complicated true story of Anna Stubblefield and Derrick Johnson.

‘It sat on the fault lines of so many big social questions — around race, sexuality, and, yes, disability.’

The programme follows the case against Stubblefield, who said she fell in love with Johnson and had a consensual sexual relationship with him, despite his mother claiming he didn’t have the capacity to engage in physical or emotional intimacy.

She also claimed that Johnson wouldn’t have been able to use a keyboard and LED screen to type and communicate with Stubblefield, unless the teacher manipulated his hands.

It follows a true story (Picture: Sky)

The programme features interviews with those involved (Picture: Sky)

The documentary involves interviews with those involved, including Stubblefield and Johnson’s mother Daisy and brother John, and follows the trial that took place after the allegations.

In 2015, Stubblefield was found guilty on two counts of first degree aggravated sexual assault. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison but had her conviction revoked on a technicality in 2017.

She accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge and was released from prison after serving for two years.

Theroux also told The Sun: ‘At its heart is a mystery — whether two people were in a Romeo and Juliet love story or whether it is a horrific crime.

It follows the complicated true story of Anna Stubblefield and Derrick Johnson (Picture: Sky)

Louis Theroux struggled to get the film commissioned (Picture: Shutterstock/Rex)

‘I think its success speaks to how powerful and emotionally complex the story is. You never quite know where it will go next.

‘It was nearly ten years ago that I first came across this story. It was a struggle to get the film commissioned.’

He added: ‘It shows films you might think are risky or troubling or ‘difficult’ can also be compelling and reach a big audience.’

Baby Reindeer is available to watch on Netflix, while Tell Them You Love Me can be streamed on Sky or Now.

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