‘Under the Bridge’ Is TV’s Next True Crime Sensation
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If you started your year with True Detective: Night Country, you're probably looking for your next case. Well, we highly suggest Hulu’s Under the Bridge, which offers a winding mystery that will have you glued to the couch for damn near the entire spring.
Under the Bridge, which is based on a true story, follows Rebecca Godfrey (Riley Keough), a writer who travels home to Victoria Falls in hopes of penning a novel about the children who live there. Shortly after her arrival, a teenager named Reena Virk goes missing. Godfrey becomes invested in the case and teams up with Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone), a local cop who's just as eager to solve the mystery. Aside from Gladstone and Keough, the series includes the likes of Vritika Gupta, Ezra Faroque Khan, Archie Panjabi, Chloe Guidry, Javon Walton, Izzy G., and Aiyana Goodfellow.
The series is produced by Quinn Shepard and Samir Mehta, and is based on Godfrey’s novel, Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk. In an interview with Elle, Mehta explained the vision for the show, which displays how peer pressure can warp one's ability to make decisions. “Our shorthand in the room was that the show is Eighth Grade meets The Sopranos,” Mehta said. “And in some ways, the experience of being in middle school and how exclusive it can feel and how cruel being ostracized [is] can feel like you’re dealing with a gang.”
Given that Under the Bridge is based on true events, the producers prioritized retelling Virk’s story with empathy. Gladstone reflected on that mission in Deadline’s Contenders TV. “A lot of time, the human element, particularly the people who suffered the most, are the ones who get erased,” Gladstone said. “The thing that happened to them becomes a sensationalized thing for the media, and then it becomes something for consumption.”
So, how do you avoid sensationalizing a story while turning it into a show? According to Shepard, the solution was to include the perspectives of people who lived through it. By adding Godfrey to the story, they could remove her influence over the narrative and allow the audience to interpret events on their own. “The more I got to know her, the more I realized that she is a character because her own perspective shapes the book,” Shepard said. While writing the script, the showrunners also decided to option a novel written by Virk's dad.
Ready to watch for yourself? Under the Bridge hits Hulu on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The first two episodes will debut that day, followed by a weekly drop until the finale on May 29.
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