Series review: under the bridge (2024)

Superstars Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone lead this exceptional mini-series about an extremely disturbing true crime case. On Disney+, Under the Bridge details the story of Reena Virk who was brutally murdered by a group of teenagers in Canada in 1997.

Told through the lens of Keough’s real-life Rebecca Godfrey, the author of Under the Bridge, the show jumps between time-lines as we learn more about Reena’s family life, friendship dynamics and tragic death. Keough’s troubled character is experiencing grief of her own after the untimely death of her brother which she holds guilt over. She returns to her hometown from New York to write a book about the forgotten youth of Saanich, British Columbia. Whilst meeting girls at a youth foster home, she learns that Reena is missing and things don’t appear as they seem.

Gladstone plays police officer Cam Bentland who once lived in the youth foster home and has a complicated relationship with Godfrey. Determined to find out what happened to Reena, Cam overcomes racism, classism and attitudes to “Bic Girls”. A horrendous term referring to how disposable young girls in care are in this town governed by Cam’s police sergeant father.

Whilst watching this series it’s impossible not to Google everything about the case but the results were disturbing and I haven’t stopped thinking about it yet. Reena Virk was bullied, isolated and misunderstood due to her race. She wanted to fit in but was rejected by her peers and gravitated towards the rebels who ended up being her murderers. It’s a shocking tale with huge sociological implications.

Reena had it all, a strong family unit who loved and adored her whilst the girls in foster care had the destructive independence that she craved. They engaged in anti-social behaviour, drugs, alcohol and wanted to be the “Crips” gang of Canada. There were so many instances during the show that were heart breaking scenes of someone so lost who hurt their family with tragic bad decisions.

This show deserves a huge 10/10 for the impact, storytelling and exceptional cast. The dark and harrowing subject matter is captured respectfully and we learn a lot about the life of Reena Virk that should never be forgotten.