Under the Bridge Mini-series Review

Under the Bridge (2024)
Mini-series - 8 episodes

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Created by: Quinn Shephard
Based on: Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey
Starring: Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough, Vritika Gupta, Chloe Guidry
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
Fourteen-year-old Reena Virk went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Seven teenage girls and a boy were accused of the savage murder.

Verdict
It's a tragic crime, and this manages to engender sympathy for many of those involved. Many of these kids grew up in a world where you had to act tough to hide insecurities. When you're raised in violence, and it's all you know, you react violently to situations. This doesn't excuse anyone, but it does provide insight, looking at the perpetrators, victims, and those caught in the wake.
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Review
This is based on the non-fiction book by the same name, published in 2005. 

Reena (Vritika Gupta) doesn't have many friends, desperate to fit in. It doesn't help that she's Indian-American, and her parents are strict. It's a difficult age as her peers are self conscious too, many of them lashing out to mask it. The only people Reena hangs out with are group home girls, but the leader Josephine (Chloe Guidry) isn't very nice and actively tries to exclude Reena. It's unfortunate, and Reena puts up with it because she's more afraid to have no friends.

Vritika Gupta plays Reena Virk

Reena fights with her parents who disapprove of the friends. Reena exacts revenge on Josephine after a slight, and at the end of the first episode we see the beginnings of fight. The next day Reena is missing.

It's clear Josephine's act is a front. She claims to have killed Reena to seem tough, but the cops know she didn't. It's unclear initially how the police know that. Josephine is also naive. She's in love with John Gotti and thinks killing Reena will get her "made." She's a child that never got the affection she needed. She talks about gangs and hip hop, but it's all a ploy to find belonging while being afraid to express any vulnerability. Reena wants to belong as much as any of the girls. Despite their similar insecurities, they prey on one another.

Riley Keough, Lily Gladstone play Rebecca Godfrey, Cam Bentland

Episodes split time between the present day investigation led by Officer Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone) with assistance from author Rebecca (Riley Keough) and Reena's life before the event. You wonder why Reena even wants to be friends with these girls. She reluctantly invites them over at her parents' behest. The girls are rude, steal, and let Reena's bird escape. Reena continued an attempt at friendship afraid that she had no one else and that someone was better than no one. Because of that Reena is easily manipulated. This leads to a rift with her family as they bear the brunt of Reena's cruelty. When Josephine isn't trying to impress others, she has moments where she's actually nice. That's the tragic thing about Josephine. She acts tough because she thinks that's why people like her. She maintains that front because she's afraid of losing her friends.

These kids live in violence. It's all they know, inflicting it on others just as they've been subjected to it. They don't have any role models. They choose role models based on what they think is cool and the lifestyles they see in pop culture and music.

With the investigation, it's always twisting and turning. What we think we know is quickly undone in each episode. Shows like this often end when the culprits are captured, but this keeps going. The trial remains intriguing as multiple kids are charged. They're involved but the circumstances are unclear. The trial shows us the real mastermind behind the events, but with these being teens will anyone believe it? There's plenty of reasonable doubt. It's easy to become engrossed in this show as it taps into very basic emotions of wanting to be liked and desperate to fit in. Peer pressure takes terrible turns as kids feel the need to act tough to conceal the hurt and pain they feel. It's not fun or easy to watch, but it's easy to understand exactly how the kids, parents, and other adults feel. The mystery keeps you guessing until it turns to wondering if the true culprits will face consequences.