This Hulu True Crime Miniseries Is A Must-Watch For Lily Gladstone & Riley Keough Fans

This post contains spoilers for Hulu's "Under the Bridge."

Rebecca Godfrey's "Under the Bridge" explores the real-life murder of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old who was viciously beaten and eventually killed by her classmates in British Columbia in 1997. It would be insulting to call this true-crime book an accurate or compelling retelling of the horrific crime, as Godfrey lingers as little as possible on Reena herself. We learn next to nothing about Reena's interiority except for the prejudiced perceptions of her perpetrators, who are consistently romanticized. Godfrey even goes as far as to paint these girls as broken, misunderstood teens, establishing an unnerving thread of sympathy for them throughout. It is a deeply disturbing book, not because of the details of the gut-wrenching tragedy but because Reena is an afterthought in her own story, never delved into beyond the fact that she was murdered.

Quinn Shephard's TV series adaptation of Godfrey's book is markedly different in its intent and execution but takes some questionable storytelling swings (and falls prey to hackneyed genre tropes) while dramatizing the real-life crime. For starters, the story incorporates Godfrey as a character (played by Riley Keough) who gradually emerges as the focal point of the evolving Reena Virk murder case. It's a baffling decision; Keough's Godfrey ends up overshadowing the complexities of the crime in question, as every character is filtered through her flawed, oftentimes problematic perspective. In a sense, it's admittedly fitting that the onscreen version of Godfrey is just as inconsiderate as the real-life author. Nevertheless, as "Under the Bridge" is an otherwise faithful interpretation of its source material, the inclusion of a fictionalized Godfrey does little to fix or improve upon the ways the original book fails Reena Virk at every turn.

However, Hulu's "Under the Bridge" does succeed in creating intense character portraits, as Shephard does not shy away from depicting the bigoted cruelty shared by the girls responsible for Reena's murder. Additionally, Lily Gladstone's Cam Bentland is clearly a series highlight, as she is one of the rare perspectives rooted in empathy and a sense of justice. With this in mind, let's take a closer look at the show, what it does well, and why it might've been better off taking the form of a true-crime documentary than a dramatization.

The year is 1997, and Rebecca (Keough) makes her way into Seven Oaks Youth Home to find material for her next book, presenting herself as a journalist despite not being one. She befriends Josephine (Chloe Guidry) and her clique, who are seen bullying and beating up Reena (Vritika Gupta) before her disappearance at the beginning of the episode. What sets the series' treatment of the case apart from the source material is its sensitivity towards Reena and her story, where the depiction of the perpetrators' inner lives is divorced from any kind of romanticization. There's plenty of complexity to unearth here: Reena is fleshed out with distinct personhood and nuanced motivations, and her absence is treated with somber empathy and the constant self-awareness that this is not a purely fictional drama.

While "Under the Bridge" might have its heart in the right place, the series is guilty of overcomplicating the narrative in an attempt to keep things interesting. Much of the heavy lifting done here is thanks to Keough and Gladstone's spirited, grounding performances, which are often at odds with the wonky character writing and general pacing. Gupta, who embodies Reena, also does an admirable job, emphasizing the genuine tragedy of the young woman's death instead of appealing to some sensationalized notion of wrongdoing. A combination of great performances and flat storytelling, unfortunately, yields mixed results, even though Shephard's handling of the show's dubious source material warrants praise.

Gladstone's Cam is an interesting, essential addition to the story, as her character simultaneously underlines the pitfalls of law enforcement and the authentic empathy of someone doing their best within that framework. Cam, an Indigenous woman, is especially sensitive to the ostracization and xenophobia Reena and her family faced after they moved to Canada and is one of the few officers who take Reena's case seriously. Although there's not much depth to Cam on paper, Gladstone does her utmost to add weight to this role, and her presence is enough to enliven a series that sags terribly even before reaching its bleak, hollow conclusion.

Reena's story deserves to be told via the true crime documentary format, as every dramatic adaptation so far, no matter how well-intentioned, has warped the truth to an intent. Well, I guess that is the fatal flaw of true crime-based fiction, as not everything is meant to be reduced to entertainment on a screen.