The brutal murder of a teen girl shocked a peaceful enclave of Victoria Island, British Columbia, Canada in 1997. Reena Virk was the victim of bullying by her classmates, the murder trial got worldwide attention, and now the story is the basis of the Hulu limited series Under the Bridge, premiering today, April 17.
Recent Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, who plays one of the police officers investigating the murder, tells ABC Audio that this is an important story to tell.
“Reena Virk’s story is so central to so many conversations, in Canada particularly,” she explains. “And I know that she’s been at the heart of a lot of anti-bullying efforts and education and curriculum, which is really the end goal.”
Unlike most true crime series, notes Gladstone, Under the Bridge focuses on the victims, as it should.
“The sensationalism that can emerge around true crime tends to focus almost a celebrity worship on the perpetrators, and in that we lose not just compassion for who the victims were, but we lose the opportunity to have the conversation about what systems are in place that make this kind of crime way too common,” she says.
Riley Keough plays a journalist writing a story about lost and missing teen girls of the area. Her character is based on Rebecca Godfrey, who would write the best-selling true crime book on which the series is based, and Keough thinks that though the incident took place over 25 years ago, it feels like it could happen today.
“You know, things for women are evolving and hopefully going in the right direction, but there are still many, many missing women, murdered women, women who are abused, bullied women,” she shares. “You know, this is certainly still an issue.”
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