‘Under the Bridge’ — What We Know About Lily Gladstone’s True Crime Series

After winning over audiences and critics alike with her Oscar-nominated performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone is ready to portray a cop in a true crime series that will be out soon. Under the Bridge is a chilling story based on a real-life case, about a fourteen-year-old girl who was beaten by her friends and was later found dead. The series will dive deep into the investigation, and how both Gladstone’s character and an author (Riley Keough) writing about the case get to the truth of what happened at the murder scene. The series will also show how this story sparked concerns about bullying and violence in the school setting, making way for several preventative measures. Given that the true crime drama will arrive on Hulu shortly, here is everything you need to know about the limited series before hitting the play button.

Does ‘Under the Bridge’ Have a Release Date?

The release date for Under the Bridge has already been revealed, and believe it or not, the series will come out very soon. The first two episodes are set to arrive on Hulu as of April 17 in the U.S., while the remaining six will be dropped on a weekly basis. Check out the schedule below to find out when to expect new episodes of the series:

Watch on Hulu

Is There a Trailer for ‘Under the Bridge’?

The official trailer for Under the Bridge came out on March 25, 2024, and it starts with an ominous phrase. “There is danger everywhere, but danger has never looked quite like this before”. According to the police officer in the clip, a 14-year-old girl named Reena Virk has been missing for three days. With a few teenagers pitching in on what happened the night of the girl’s disappearance, the officer connects the dots and finds out that Reena going missing is related to an incident under the bridge. In the middle of this quest for the truth, a writer named Rebecca Godfrey shows up in town wanting to seek answers from the community to share in her new novel. As this author and the police officer team up to interview the girls who are major suspects in what goes from a missing person investigation to a homicide case, these two women are drawn closer than ever to the real killer’s identity. The trailer wraps up with a haunting quote: “This story would haunt the island for years to come and forever change the fact that young girls were the ones we were supposed to protect, not be protected from.”

What Is ‘Under the Bridge’ About?

Here is the official plot summary of the miniseries, according to Hulu:

”
Under the Bridge
is based on acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey’s book about the 1997 true story of 14-year-old Reena Virk, who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Through the eyes of Godfrey and a local police officer, the series takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of murder — revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer.”

Who Is Starring in ‘Under the Bridge’?

Lily Gladstone stars in Under the Bridge as Cam Bentland, one of the few women of color in the police force in Victoria, BC. As she handles this horrendous case, she questions the justice system she’s been working for, always going above and beyond to get to the bottom of the investigation. Gladstone had her start onscreen back in 2012 in Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, and has been a part of a few TV projects, including Billions and Reservation Dogs. After being nominated for an Oscar this year, the actress is prepared to return to the small screen in this true crime series.

After starring in Prime Video’s Daisy Jones & The Six, Riley Keough will play author Rebecca Godfrey in the Hulu original. The character will be a “partner-in-crime” for Cam in finding out more about what happened to Reena. Aside from her role in Under the Bridge, the actress can also be seen in theaters alongside Jesse Eisenberg in Sasquatch Sunset.

The victim at the center of this crime scene, Reena Virk, will be played by Vritika Gupta. Before taking on this character, she starred in several short films, including The Ghost and Casting Cattle Call.

Ezra Faroque Khan (Doctor Strange) will play Reena’s father, Manjit Virk, and Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) will play Reena’s mother, Suman Virk.

Other actors that will be part of the series’ ensemble are Ella Dixon (The Bad Seed Returns) as Marissa Leardi, Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton (Euphoria) as Warren, Maya da Costa (The Healing Powers of Dude) as Maya, and Nadia Liebig (Young Rock) as Chloe.

Is ‘Under the Bridge’ Based on a True Story?

True crime shows like Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story or Under the Banner of Heaven were based on real-life stories, and this is also the case here. Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s novel of the same name, the series follows a shocking murder story that took place in Canada. As the show highlights, Reena Virk was only fourteen when her body was found in Gorge Waterway in B.C. Her body was filled with bruises from being beaten up before getting drowned. Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski, who were also teenagers at the time, were convicted of the crime. After being charged with second-degree murder, Glowatski was granted full parole in 2010. As for Ellard, now known as Kerry Sim, she continues to be behind bars.

Ever since their daughter’s death, the Virk family has dedicated their lives to advocating against bullying and violence. The story that inspired the forthcoming true crime project made a significant impact on the city of Victoria, launching several anti-bullying initiatives. Chris Hosley, a retired sergeant from the Saanich Police Department during the time the investigation took place, told Global News that he hopes viewers might watch the series with caution:

“I don’t want people to lose sight that a 14-year-old girl was murdered and lost her life. And now, almost 30 years later, we’re making it into entertainment.”

Who Is Making ‘Under the Bridge’?

After Blame and Not Okay, filmmaker Quinn Shephard will be the showrunner, director, and executive producer behind Under the Bridge. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, Shephard shared that the series’ main source material was Godfrey’s book addressing this shocking murder case:

“It was a crime book that didn’t feel like a crime book. There was a real gentleness and femininity to the way that the story was told. I felt like it offered a lot of space to tell a story both about Reena, but also about childhood and the stories of the other teenagers.”

Samir Mehta (The Sinner) is also credited as showrunner and executive producer. In the same interview for Entertainment Weekly, he mentioned that not only was the show directly inspired by Godfrey’s book, but it also added her as a main character in the series:

“The show is an adaptation of [Godfrey’s] novel, but also the story of her writing that novel. That extra layer allowed us to look at the nature of true crime from the perspective of someone creating it, which is something that we were doing as well. So it had that meta layer to it.”

The author, who recently passed away from lung cancer, was an executive producer on the Under the Bridge adaptation for the screen. Keough and Gina Gamell are executive producers under their production company, Felix Culpa. Other executive producers on board are Liz Tigelaar and Stacey Silverman from Best Day Ever production company, and Geeta Vasant Patel (who is also credited as a director).