ITVX has some amazing TV shows at the moment and is set to air a Canadian import that we think you should add to the top of your 'must-watch' list. The eight-part series Under the Bridge, which is set to land on the streaming platform on July 25th, follows a real-life story about the investigation into one of the most shocking Canadian crimes of the late 1990s.
The official synopsis reads: "Under the Bridge is based on acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey’s book about the 1997 true story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta) who went to join friends at a party and never returned home.
"Through the eyes of Godfrey (Riley Keough) and a local police officer (Lily Gladstone), the series takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of the murder — revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer."
Who is in the cast?
Under the Bridge has a seriously impressive cast, including Oscar-nominee Lily Gladstone, who starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon, alongside Doctor Who actress Archie Panjabi.
© JB LacroixRiley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, also stars. The actress is perhaps best known for starring in Daisy Jones & the Six and Mad Max: Fury Road.
What happened to Reena Virk?
Reena, 14, was beaten and killed by a group of teenagers in Saanich, Canada, back in 1997. She was a victim of bullying, and her death saw eight teenagers tried and convicted in relation to her murder, with six convicted of assaulting her while two, Warren Paul Glowatski and Kelly Marie Ellard, were convicted for murdering her.
Under the Bridge's creator Quinn Shephard wrote a piece for The Hollywood Reporter about the response to the show, particularly in regards to Reena's complicated personal history.
© WireImageShe explained: "I made this show in large part because I was drawn to the book’s radical plea for empathy, and its thesis that someone is not defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done.
"But it confuses me that empathy for Reena, through almost every iteration of her life and the stories that followed, seems to be the most conditional. It baffles me that as a society we put pressure on any victim to be likeable, especially a child.
© HULU"And it worries me that in doing so, we imply that crimes like these can be justified. It’s worth saying this plainly: The implication that women who behave badly should be 'punished' is the very mindset that caused Reena Virk’s death."
