Stalking as it is. That's how we were taught it. But I didn't. I don't know, Netflix usually broadcasts a lot, but, in my opinion, not this time. It seems like a real story, but something is implausible. The narrative is sluggish when trying to give it some dynamism, the characters of the main characters are not disclosed, there is very little funny, there is nothing from the thriller. The main character could interrupt all these tortures repeatedly and quickly but, apparently, in his heart he is a masochist, and he liked it. I will not talk about tolerance and non-traditional sexual relations - this is now a common thing in Western cinema. Something reminded me of the British mini-series "Shitty", but the latter I did not like even more.
Stalking is extremely unpleasant, and with a certain form of it, probably faced almost all.
The first episode seemed really fascinating, albeit strange. But then Stanislavsky's system failed. And the only thought I had left at the end of the series was ' I don't believe' people don't communicate or lead like that.
The hero is a typical frustrated loser who ignores all the best he has, constantly looking for problems on his ass. He jokes terribly, does not know how to communicate, does not understand anything in relationships, constantly lies, and does a lot of disgusting things. They do nothing for their growth and development. But obsessed with various obsessions, from stand-up to his stalker.
The whole arch of the character boils down to the fact that in the final he spends everything he went for as much as 7 episodes. Did he know where he was wrong? did he change? No, but at least once told the truth and retold the whole plot in the penultimate series.
Donnie is not revealed from any side except dark (but that he is definitely a psycho no doubt), not disclosed and stalker, girlfriend of the hero, generally no one, well, and the icing on the cake conclusion on the basis of 1 phrase.
In the dry residue it is not very clear how many in the series of those very 'real events', but the feeling is very little. The purpose of the series is self-promotion and regret at the expense of a very heavily twisted story, falsehood here climbs from all the cracks. A liar from a parallel universe. Just the concept that the hero lives with the mother of his ex complicates faith in what is happening.
Among the advantages: a gloomy and depressing atmosphere, good acting, a pleasant picture.
Of the minuses: long, empty, undisclosed characters, bad dialogue, constant close-up, stretched narrative, a lot of things forbidden and unnatural. Instead of the whole series, you can just watch Episode 6.
Driving on a catchy bundle, with interest notice the markers of your favorite Tru-Crime, “I just bought her a cup of tea”, and then exhale is already difficult – an emotional, terrible adventure without end and beginning, led by terrible mental problems, the search for identity and the origin of injuries. The main thing is not to find yourself in the eyes of a teddy deer - so the story may seem remarkable. Otherwise, it will fascinate you.
A sudden novelty from a little-known director, short dynamic series, the history of stalking in a juicy pitch - such is "Deer" at first glance. We are in the bar, immediately look into the eyes of mad Martha and read the details of the life of her new victim and part-time protagonist – failed comedian Donnie Dunn, currently working part-time in the bar. Such a character in a general sense is called a loser - lack of talent, ruined dreams, problems in his personal life. This is how he feels, this is how he creates an image. This is easy to portray and read as a sad joke. His sudden encounter with Martha is similar. A middle-aged woman, contagious laughter, an enviable career in the lawyer environment, obsessive attempts to communicate and "sent from my iPhone" at the end of each letter, but she never has an iPhone in her hands. It seems suspicious literally at once, and exactly at the same time, even in the first series, it should be assumed that stalking here is not limited to the matter. It’s all fascinating, interesting and, most importantly, creepy to watch Martha’s identity unfold, as Donnie gradually realizes what he’s gotten into. This stings nerves, chains to the screen, makes you cling to every detail and admire your observation. A pleasant feeling, until you want to turn away from disgust and despair.
It is difficult to talk about such a work without a detailed analysis, but it is not necessary to recommend the series to everyone. He is inventive, frank (you can be horrified, how much), well tailored in relation to the most important aspects - the depth of history, work with characters, eloquent symbolic picture. It's a great show, but pay attention to the warnings. The turning point, in my opinion, brings the fourth series to the boiling point, and the viewer to a slight stupor. It’s hard and scary to watch, but what’s even worse is that what’s happening to Donnie can never be understood. It's horrible, but it's familiar to us, it's always visible and disturbing. Then the puzzle is even better, and it benefits the whole story, but completely disorients the viewer. What his injury is doing to Donnie is creating dissonance. It's hard to figure it out.
In a global sense, the series speaks, literally, of violence. Violence is not what can arise in associations. Violence is not loud, not tangible, as, for example, demonstrated in the recent equally remarkable “Followout”. The violence in Olenenko is quiet, imperceptible, but terribly topical. It's in Martha's past, it's in Donnie's life, it's in all his subsequent connections. It is contained in a specific situation, but it is not difficult to shift it to other points. Following the story, you penetrate it so much that you naturally find yourself in the place of the main character. And now his problems are already strangling you, his throwing reminds you of something, and ordinary talk-hints plunge into shock. Shock, stupor, what does "I grew up in a Catholic church," why is it so scary to be around Terry, why does Martha do this, why does Donnie do this? Rough emotional swing with himself, complete confusion, anticipation of the worst consequences and most importantly – no completion. Familiar dangerous environment, red to face and the brightest scenes in the same red light, "at my expense", dark screen. What was that? I want to leave the hall, away from the failed performance, but before my eyes was, alas, not a comedian. He calls it an anti-comedy. Comic? Not at all. It wasn't a joke at first.
10 for the sincerity of the author and self-criticism. So merciless self-criticism that sympathy for the main character will not work. Richard Gadd’s Donnie Dan was a spineless, weak and frozen dreamer in inactivity. Richard Gadd is very ashamed of his comedic past. He plays himself on stage so incompetent that it is difficult to believe in what is happening during his performances. Everything else is very plausible. Male viewers will probably find it more difficult to understand the rotten-sweet pleasure that can be experienced from the sympathy shown by the "freak fan." In the lives of most girls, they have been at least once, so a lot of feedback. It is clear why the main character delays appealing to the police, it is clear why he listens to the messages of the stalker after the conflict is resolved... even if we do not take into account the difficulties associated with real harassment, about which he hushes up and delays the statement.
Stalkerism imho for this series is only a frame, all the content is about the formation, or rather a fracture of natural sexuality. Such a Nymphomaniac on minimalism with a share of self-irony.
Of the script disadvantages, only a looped plot. You could have done without that sloppy move.
The film is much deeper than it seems at first glance.
Causes a gamut of feelings and emotions: outrage for how Martha violates other people’s borders; awkwardness for not funny jokes of the protagonist Donnie; disgust for his weakness and lack of human dignity; pity and sympathy for Martha and Donnie.
Although the film looks quite easy, but it reflects rather complex themes of human existence: inner loneliness, self-finding, loss of identity, codependency, inferiority, life meanings, etc.
The main character Martha lives a boring, meaningless life until one day she meets Donnie.
Thanks to a small sign of attention on his part, she not only fills his life with it, but also fills his life with the meaning of the fight against it and a certain game in which he unconsciously enters and benefits: constant attention on her part, a sense of importance and necessity.
When the game finally ends, he feels the ringing emptiness of his life and the lack of meaning in it.
There's a scene where he's trying to sort of understand Martha, her inappropriate behavior, while covering the walls of his room with printouts of her text messages. This may indicate fixation on the persecutor and dependence on her or attempts to understand yourself and your own inferiority through understanding her.
The final scene of the film reflects Donnie and Martha’s similarity in their loneliness and profound loss of themselves. . .
You can't handle the magic,
You will be mine!
Oh, I like you so much,
Oh-oh-oh.
This is a very British project. Ugly, heavy, stuffy. But exciting from the first to the last second of viewing.
Rarely unfunny comedian Donnie Dunn, doing a hateful job in a bar, meets Martha Stewart. Well, as she meets - out of pity, she pours her a glass of tea for free. After all, a woman is lost, sad and completely unattractive. And without a penny of money. As you can see, almost all the adjectives in this story with the prefix “not”.
A sudden act of kindness transforms Martha. The woman looks at Donnie as a handsome prince, her eyes shining. She wraps the man in compliments, laughs at his jokes (it's important) and things both start to sort of get better. Donnie has a friend. That's what he thinks. Until one day she realizes that Martha’s interest in him is not platonic at all, she clearly expects more. And a little later he is waiting for another unpleasant discovery - Martha is almost a professional "stalker" and already had a lot of problems with the police because of this.
Donnie wants to break up this strange relationship, but it turns out to be so hard. After all, Martha never intends to let her dear Olenenka go anywhere.
The series, as I wrote above, is very special. The story of how Donnie went to his stage success is not at all like an article from a magazine about stars, rather like a clipping from a low-grade newspaper. At the same time, the man himself does not cause strong sympathy. It seems like I want to feel sorry for him, but it does not work very well. Amazingly controversial Martha. It causes a whole range of emotions, sometimes mutually exclusive. But the character is at least interesting. Watching her is very exciting. The other few heroes also do not cause much sympathy. But all of them are so organically spelled out, so quickly and naturally change, that a sense of absolute reality is created.
The project is kind of autobiographical, but I hope that fiction took place here. The series itself was very, very exciting. And in places instructive.
Netflix, of course, traditionally carefully works out the agenda (#metoo, trances, gays..) and usually seeing all this I turn off the series, but here it (almost) did not interfere, because the story really turned out interesting and shot well. The main character is very reminiscent of the aunt from Misery, and not only obsession, but also externally.
2024 is a British miniseries in which stand-up comedian Richard Gadd told his amazing biographical story.
The young man moved from Scotland to London with a dream - he wanted to perform on stage and be a successful comedian. But instead, he worked as a bartender and performed extremely unsuccessfully on stage - his jokes failed to cause laughter in a small audience. It's like a sad British Joker.
His life deteriorated even more with the appearance of a fat, age-old visitor at the bar. The hero treated her to a cup of tea, regretted and politely communicated. Soon, this fat visitor will turn into a real stalker and turn his life into hell - an inadequate lady literally threw him in an endless stream of messages, imagining that they were lovers.
But the story of how a fat aunt stalks a loser comedian is not the only basis for the story of Deer. Richard Gadd, who himself played the main role in the series, exposes himself as a victim not only of a stalker, but also of a rapist producer.
The culture of victims has become one of the main characteristics of modernity. You want fame and recognition? Tell a story about your own life and expose yourself as a miserable victim of everything and everyone. It works. It worked in 2020 for Michaela Coel, who directed I Can Destroy You about the rape experience and received rave reviews around the world. It worked 4 years later with Richard Gadd.
However, the positive difference of this series is that the hero of "Olenenka" here is not a holy innocent victim. The hero here is no less controversial and negative persona than his persecutors and rapists. Richard Gadd admits responsibility for what happened to him.
"Deer" is a fascinating project with a controversial hero. And it seems that Richard Gadd was really trying to be sincere, telling the story of his fall and the path to healing. Although along with sincerity in this mini-series, there is fiction. It is very difficult to say what exactly is a lie here and how frank and honest our hero is. Especially regarding how he reflected his relationship with the producer and the transvestite. But still "Deer" is not a documentary. And as an art project, it is more than interesting, original and perfectly combines dramatic with comic. In addition, not prolonged and consisting of 7 episodes of about 30 minutes.
The international LGBT movement is included in the list of extremist organizations of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
So, in April, Netflix issued a hitman, which the media did not immediately notice, but now everyone talks about and writes about him. This is an autobiographical tragicomedy by Scottish screenwriter and actor Richard Gadd, in which he played the main role.
Donnie Dunn works as a bartender, at leisure trying to succeed in stand-up. But the career of a comedian does not go well, as if he lacks some spark and inner confidence. Outside of work, too, not everything was set: Donnie has to live with the mother of an ex-girlfriend, because money for his housing is categorically not enough, on the personal front, too, trouble.
But Marta walks into a bar one day – a middle-aged woman, overweight, clearly upset with something, even without money for tea. How not to help a person in sorrow? That's how Donnie met his stalker. This fatal momentary sympathy turned into tens of thousands of email messages, hundreds of hours of voice, years of persecution and threats to the health of relatives, as well as success and healing. Intriguing?
Martha was played by the charming textured Jessica Gunning, whom I had previously met in the pleasant British comedy Violators. She was great at creating a character for whom you feel simultaneously empathy and disgust, who you want to help, but never get close.
I immediately caught the format of the narrative, as if you were spying on someone's correspondence. Prepare to read Martha’s countless but dosed and appropriately integrated narrative messages. They turned out as punctuation marks in the story: place accents, convey mood, denote semantic blocks. Intrusive, inappropriate, perplexing, indecent, frightening - they reveal the stalker no worse than her wild face-to-face performances.
I watched all 7 episodes in one breath a night. The first three episodes were like, "Oh honey, honey," and now I'll tell everyone. And expected from the story of explosion and kitsch, meat and blood. Without reading reviews and reviews, they were not there yet, and not knowing that the project is autobiographical, I thought that the main characters would either kill each other or get married. But it turned out differently: uncomfortable and uncomfortable, tragic and lonely. The fun attraction turned into a confession, stand-up into spiritual exhibitionism. The story of the crazy stalker was the tip of the iceberg. The trauma of the main character, which unfolds in the 4th episode and changes everything, hard sobered me, turned 180 degrees. And even though I watched the miniseries two weeks ago, I needed a pause to digest The Deer.
The project is heavy, thick, sick, heartbreaking, absurd. You will certainly remember it more than once, reflect, reject, accept, empathize. Don't count on indifference. At a minimum, this is a rare example of the history of abuse and harassment in relation to a man.
Of course, “Deer Boy” turned out to be therapeutic not only for Richard Gadd. The viewer also no-no and will look into himself in the process, dig into his wounds, ask uncomfortable questions. My conclusion is the same as Donnie Dunn's show and humor - absurd: only a person can cause the greatest pain to another person, and only a person can understand and heal it. This is the main comedy and tragedy of life.
It's bad to be an aspiring standup comedian. It’s even worse to be a budding comedian in London, where aspiring comedians eat in an unnatural way! It's really bad to be an aspiring comedian in London without a sense of humor. To make ends meet, you have to work in a pub. It is good that at least you do not need to pay for housing - the mother of a former friend allowed the failed son-in-law to live at her house. A holy woman!
Richard Gadd was in this position one day in the mid-2010s when a woman entered his pub. It's nothing special, a nondescript fatty in her forties. I introduced myself as a successful lawyer, named a few big names of her clients, and suddenly... asked for a cup of tea for free. She had no money, you see. Richard took pity on her and poured her tea (it is known what tea in the pub is a bag of dust, poured with boiling water). This little sympathetic gesture was the beginning of... no, not a beautiful friendship, but a 6-year history of stalking, harassment and stalking, sticky and uncouth as a nightmare. 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voice messages, countless tweets and 106 pages of emails. With the complete connivance of the police and unwillingness to do anything...
It wasn’t until many years later, either as a psychotherapy or as the only way to break into writers, that Richard Gadd turned this nightmarish story into a solo performance in which he played the roles of himself under the name of Donnie and his tormentor, whom he brought out under the false name Martha. And then there was a miracle – whether he managed to go to Netflix, or Netflix came to him – so there was a mini-series “Deer”, which in a few days after the release became the series No. 1.
* * * *
“Deer” takes about 4 hours – in principle, you can watch in one sitting, but I guarantee – you will not succeed. I barely made it in two days. It was one of the most painful and heartbreaking sights I have ever seen. And yet, with a clear conscience, I would recommend it to everyone – you have to see it. In the course of viewing, you will more than once or twice want to shout a lamentable hero: “What are you doing, idiot?” Why did you friend her on FB? Why did you go to her house? Why don't you go report it to the police? Why do you keep silent about her violent actions against you and your loved ones? How did you come to life like this?
The answer will come in the fourth series – the heaviest in the film. It reveals how sexual abuse happens in show business, the devastating impact it has on the psyche of victims, and why victims often remain silent about it for decades. Another climax takes place in the sixth series - this is a scene of emotional catharsis, when after another failed performance, Donnie breaks down and tells the audience about everything, turning the soul inside out.
Speaking of speaking. I don’t know if Richard Gadd is completely ruthless to himself, or if he doesn’t realize how bad he is as a comedian, but his “comedy” reprise is such a fierce kringe that I sometimes couldn’t watch it, leaving only a sound (despite the fact that the scene of homosexual rape I mastered). Do you want an example of his humor? “This is my daughter, she’s two months old.” I named her Adolf after Hitler. Ha ha, I joked, she's three months old! Comments are superfluous.
Of course, if the series were just emotional torture, I would not recommend it so strongly to the general public. Made “Deer” simply masterfully – script and directing at the highest level. It is not easy to look at the main characters, so they are antipathic, but at the same time they cause a complex range of feelings - dislike, irritation, revulsion, pity, sympathy and admiration for acting. Of course, it’s hard to play yourself badly, but try to turn inside out in front of the camera, like Gadd did! However, my greatest admiration was for Jessica Gunning as Martha: her play is a real emotional swing – from pity and sympathy for the unhappy aunt with an unstable psyche and an unsettled fate to the most natural fear that evokes the memory of the heroine of the film Misery, brilliantly played by Katie Bates. Of the supporting actors, I will note the wonderful transgender actress Navu Mau as the girlfriend of the Glavhero.
“The Deer” is not a template story of the victim and the stalker – it is a story full of psychological nuances, in which the tormentor and the victim are in a state of codependency, sadomasochistic symbiosis. Martha needs Donnie as much as she needs him. No matter how painful her obsessive attention is, it flatters him, gratifies his male self-esteem, which has fallen somewhere below the level of the city sewers. And even after the clumsy English Themis finally tears them apart, Donnie’s fascination with Martha will not end there – he will continue to obsessively re-read her illiterate letters and listen to her voice – the voice of the woman he loved to hate so much.
10 out of 10
Terrible and morally exhausting turned out this British project, which is based on a real story from the life of the creator of the series, comedian Richard Gadd, who for two years was pursued by a 40-year-old stalker. The series itself grew out of a theatrical production, and, according to Gadda, it was the many years of work on the series that helped him cope with the severe psychological trauma associated with this situation.
There are no problems with the dynamics, because the format of 7 episodes of 30 minutes is ideal for such a story, and the author clearly and in practice tells the story without unnecessary water and delays. Combining humor, drama and suffocating thriller Gadd puts the viewer in the most uncomfortable conditions that he experienced himself. The atmosphere of despair and deadlock here at least cut a knife. It becomes especially scary when such a charming full laugh at once turns into a terrible demon.
However, the further the narrative moves, the deeper the character of the victim itself is revealed, and in the 4th series (by the way, the brightest and creepy and brightest in the whole series, and this is not even connected with the pursuer, and what cool camera and color solutions there are), a sharp reversal occurs and the vector of action changes dramatically, and further events and the finale itself brings the viewer to a disappointing conclusion. Actually, the story itself here is not even about how the stalker pursues the victim - it is only a plot frame around which layers are strung with many components that are not immediately revealed to the viewer.
The acting jobs here are incredible. Gadd reveals a whole palette of emotions of the unfortunate loser, whose every action deepens the already dull and hopeless life. But who really inspires horror and fear, is Jessica Gunning, and lived her character Martha Stokes is sure to enter the top ten most terrible villains in the history of world cinema.
Dramatically powerful, psychologically creepy and endlessly sad project, from which it becomes uneasy - piece author's work and one of the outstanding and talentedly made series of this year.
9.5 out of 10
I'm a little nuts here. I went to the Kinopoisk to see how many people liked "Deer" and did not find what reviews, and even a synopsis. Considering how much I liked this series, I decided to correct the situation and add some information about the series.
Donnie is a loser writer who dreams of a stand-up comedian career, but still works as a bartender. He has an incredible number of complexes, but by nature he is very kind and responsive. One day, he shows compassion and gives tea to a visitor, Martha, who has no money with her. Taking Donnie’s action very close to his heart and imbued with sympathy for him, Martha begins to show a very obsessive attention to the guy, which very soon will turn into a tragedy for both.
If you understand the meaning of the word “stalker” not only in the context of Tarkovsky’s work, but also watched such films as “Cape of Fear”, “Fan” and “Misery”, then you can easily imagine the main plot of the film. But God, how fascinating went through the beaten theme showrunner Richard Gadd, who turned his autobiographical solo performance into a fascinating and tense series with himself in the title role.
Here it is not possible to describe the main plot twists, since the series has a form close to the play, and its main advantage is the acting and psychological aspects of the characters. Therefore, I can just recommend it to those who have a weakness for films in which the characters circle in a crazy waltz of psychological confrontation.
There is also a very different ending, which makes you think about the moral aspects of “stalkerism” and the fact that such a phenomenon occurs for a reason and for many victims it is not something surprising. In short, the series is about the fact that we are all crazy: some more, some less. And he who first copes with his inner fears and demons, he continues his life.
Fire! Fire! Splendor!
Turned on the novelty from Netflix, not expecting something grand and unprecedented. Projects from this streaming tend to shoot from time to time, but for every successful series there are quite a lot of dubious creative work. And when suddenly something really serious comes to your eyes, there is a holiday with Santa Claus from advertising. That's what happened with Deer Boy. Someone will see in it content for perverts with an agenda about vices.
Perhaps many have already learned that the creator and screenwriter of the show Richard Gadd wrote a fictional story based on events that happened to him personally a long time ago. And an unbalanced middle-aged lady, and a creepy stalking, and countless emails, and an elderly seducer - this not only had to endure the Scottish stand-up to subsequently write a play, and then come to cooperate with the streaming giant.
And how not to exclaim here: what a success! Imagine, five years ago, you stood up in some small pubs, and now together with the largest player in the streaming market made a show with very good ratings. But that's only one side. On the other hand, the project had to be presented in a way that was honest, candid and even therapeutic, since Richard Gadd was essentially baring his soul. And in a couple of episodes, there was a warning that people could. . .
Seek help in the event of harassment, harassment and violence by providing a dedicated support site. Although the series is not shot in gloomy tones, it still quite convincingly demonstrates the vivid problem of any individual in human society - when someone becomes so obsessed with someone that life for the second becomes a nightmare. In the case of the main character, an interesting nuance is that the man becomes. . .
A victim of a woman. And if a man is adequate, he will not beat or personally solve the problem with the elimination of a nasty stalker. As a result, it all boils down to the fact that for 7 episodes (and in the end it says that the game was created from 2017 to 2019), the neurotic tries to remove an unnecessary person from his life in all possible ways except murder. Is it really unnecessary? At one point, doubt creeps into the head whether the victim likes all this.
What is spoken out loud and through voiceover text. In general, a dense tangle of psychological problems is unwinding with a long thread, and there is no end to this. Still, you have a lot of respect for Richard Gadd, probably especially for his performance. First of all, he is a stand-up, but kind of trained in acting, so in front of the camera looked very plausible, imagining a 30-year-old man lost inside himself, who has little to do.
Except for suicide. So his project aims to prevent such radical measures that people who find themselves alone with their psychological problems, could speak out, share, pour out anxiety. We ourselves have to face such a thing when we see that a loved one is bad, but he is silent. Another thing when a person, oddly enough, likes this condition, but here you need to bring to the help of professionals.
A great series of 7 episodes on average 35 minutes each. You can finish in one sitting. And most importantly, it's not entertaining, like forgetting and running away from reality. He wants to reach closed hearts and closed minds to give himself a chance to breathe deeply and freely, freeing his life from abuse, stalking and harassment. Fashionable outlandish words should not interfere with the perception of problems and solve them with the help of specialists. The main thing is not to be alone.