Under the Bridge explores the murder of Reena Virk. These are the real faces behind the characters.

This post contains spoilers for the Under the Bridge miniseries.

The true crime series Under the Bridge is based on a story that will stay with you long after you've watched the show. 

Starring Oscar nominee and breakout star of 2023, Lily Gladstone and Daisy Jones & The Six actress Riley Keough, this series is driven by some stand-out performances.

What is Under the Bridge about?

Under the Bridge takes us back to 1997 when a 14-year-old girl named Reena Virk goes missing in the British Columbia province of Canada. The premise of the young Canadian-Indian girl's disappearance is an intriguing one which catches the eye of novelist Rebecca Godfrey who returns to her hometown to write about Reena's story.

Under the Bridge. Image: Hulu.

While delving into the world of local teenagers, Rebecca begins to unravel a much bigger story than she could ever have imagined. Throughout her research Rebecca also rekindles her relationship with childhood friend Cam Bentland who has served as the investigating detective in the disappearance of Reena. 

At its core, Under the Bridge is a gripping tale of a teenager who meets a tragic end that also tackles racism, justice, bullying, and many other issues. 

Who is in the Under the Bridge cast?

Showrunners and fans alike have agreed that Golden Globe nominee Riley Keough was the perfect choice to step into the shoes of Rebecca Godfrey. Not only does she have a very impressive CV (which includes Zola and Mad Max: Fury Road) but it was her previous work advocating for youth rights that really drew her to this character.

The other big name on the bill for Under the Bridge is Lily Gladstone who plays the detective at the centre of this story. After a star-making turn in 2023's Killers of the Flower Moon (which earned her an Oscar nomination), Gladstone steals the show in the role of Bentland.

Elsewhere in the cast is Vritika Gupta who does a wonderful job bringing heart and soul to the tragic Reena Virk and Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) gives a fantastic performance as Reena's mother.

Under the Bridge was developed by Quinn Shephard and Samir Mehta.

Is Under the Bridge based on a true story?

Sadly, yes. 

On November 14, 1997 14-year-old Reena Virk was invited to a party. Despite suffering horrible bullying about her heritage and appearance, Reena just wanted to fit in — so off she went to the gathering which took place under the Craigflower Bridge in Saanich, British Columbia.

It was here that an altercation broke out between a few of the teenagers which resulted in some of the party goers hitting and kicking Reena. Battered and bruised, Reena tried to make an escape from her attackers but Kelly Ellard, 15, and Warren Glowatski, 16 continued following the young girl.

According to official documents, Ellard and Glowatski then continued to brutally attack Reena before drowning her in the nearby body of water. Eight days after she was killed, police found Reena's body. Corner's reports said she had sustained "convulsion injury as often seen in car crash victims."

Both Ellard and Glowatski were convicted of second-degree murder with both serving time in prison for their crimes. The remaining "Shoreline Six" as they were branded by the media, also served time for their involvement in the attack with many of them being released before 12 months.

So devastating and harrowing was this story, it caught the eye of novelist Rebecca Godfrey who had grown up in the same surrounding area. She returned to the small community in the hopes of figuring out exactly what led to the tragic events of November 14, 1997. 

"I was living in New York City. This would’ve been in the late 90s, and I was working on a novel about teenage girls in my hometown of Victoria, British Columbia," Godfrey told Interview Magazine in 2019. "Then I started getting all these calls from friends that there had been a murder in Victoria. I went home soon after and went into the prison. I was just stunned because the girls all looked like normal, cool, young teenage girls, not particularly like killers."

She immediately became immersed in the tale of this brutal murder and even began befriending many of the young people who had been involved in the tragic events. As a result, she then turned her research into a non-fiction book called Under the Bridge which also served as source material for the showrunners of the series.

Who are the real-life faces behind the characters on Under the Bridge?

Reena Virk.

Image: Disney+, Supplied.

Under the Bridge tells the tragic story of Reena Virk, who was just 14 when she was brutally beaten and killed by a group of teenagers in Saanich, British Columbia.

Her murder garnered significant media attention in Canada after it emerged that she had been a victim of relentless bullying prior to her murder. Six teenagers were tried and convicted for their roles in her beating and forced drowning.

Reena, whose family converted from Hinduism to Jehovah's Witness after migrating to Canada, struggled to fit in. She faced taunts about her weight and body hair. 

In her book, author Rebecca Godfrey describes Reena as "dark skinned and heavy in a town and time that valued the thin and the blonde." This sense of exclusion led Reena to rebel against her faith and family, skipping meals, smoking cigarettes, and running away from home.

Kelly Ellard.

Image: Disney+, YouTube.

Kelly Marie Ellard, now known as Kerry Marie Sim, is serving a life sentence in British Columbia for Reena's murder. Granted conditional day parole in 2017 and later given overnight leave privileges in 2020, she has had a complicated legal journey.

Kelly stood trial three times and was convicted twice. In 2022, she chose to waive her parole hearing rights, feeling she wasn’t ready to re-enter the outside world.

Since committing the crime, she has expressed remorse and has had two children with former gangster Darwin Dorozan, who was her pen pal while they were both in jail. 

Warren Glowatski.

Image: Disney+, YouTube.

Warren Glowatski, convicted of Reena's murder, was sentenced to life in prison at just 16 years old. The show depicts him as a troubled young boy from a difficult home environment, which led him to express his anger through violence against Reena.

Granted day parole in 2007, Warren has since sought to turn his life around and has been forgiven by Reena’s parents. His efforts toward rehabilitation eventually led to him being granted full parole in 2010.

Josephine Bell.

Image: Disney+, YouTube.

The character Josephine Bell in the show is actually inspired by Nicole Cook. To safeguard her identity, Rebecca Godfrey used a pseudonym in the book, as Nicole was a minor at the time of the events.

Nicole grew up in a group home and while she played a role in the attack on Reena, she chose not to testify against Kelly and has never admitted to being responsible for the murder.

According to a 2016 Vancouver Sun article, Nicole and the other members of the Shoreline Six received juvenile sentences ranging from 60 days to a year.

In the 2011 documentary Bloodlust Under the Bridge, Nicole revealed that she initiated the assault on Reena by burning her with a lit cigarette. Her current location remains unknown.

Manjit and Suman Virk.

Image: Disney+, YouTube.

The tragic murder of their daughter left Manjit and Suman Virk heartbroken. In the years that followed, they channeled their grief into a passionate campaign against youth violence and bullying.

In 2009, their relentless efforts earned them the prestigious Anthony J. Hulmes Award of Distinction. Additionally, Manjit shared their family's story in his 2008 memoir, Reena: A Father's Story.

Sadly, Suman died in 2018 at 58 after a choking incident.

Rebecca Godfrey. 

Image: Disney+, Penguin.

Rebecca Godfrey, is both a character in the series and the author of the book Under the Bridge, which inspired the TV show.

In the fictional portrayal, she is an investigative journalist deeply involved in solving Reena's murder.

In real life, she was an author who had grown up Victoria, British Columbia, before moving to New York to pursue her writing career. When she heard about Reena Virk's murder, she returned to her hometown and began her own investigation. This spawned the book, Under the Bridge. 

Godfrey passed away from lung cancer at the age of 54 in October 2022, while the series was still in production.

What have cast and crew said about Under the Bridge?

Showrunners Quinn Shephard and Samir Mehta were determined to do Reena Virk's story justice. 

"We had many conversations just kind of beforehand, not only in rehearsal, but just in meetings to talk about the subject matter and really make sure we were all on the same page in terms of responsible portrayal," Mehta told Variety.

Lily Gladstone told Variety she wants audiences to focus on not erasing the victim at the centre of the story.

"I really hope that looking at the series, we focus on the true part of true crime a little bit more than the crime aspect," she said. "Sensationalizing the crime elevates the perpetrator to celebrity status and erases the victim in the process. And when we do that, we also lose the opportunity to talk about what made that person, what in society enabled it so that vulnerable person became the victim."

Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone in Under the Bridge. Image: Hulu.

Riley Keough was worried about sensationalising the crime before signing on for the show. 

"I was a little bit apprehensive, because when you just get the one line true-crime story about a missing and murdered girl, for me, I was a little like, I don’t know if that’s something I’m particularly interested in doing, because I’m trying to be thoughtful about what I put into the world in my art more and more as I get older," she told Deadline. "I think that there are many [true crime] stories that are really important, but I think the way in which they’re told can be problematic."

However, after meeting the showrunners and learning more about their vision for the series, Keough felt compelled to get involved with the project to help give nuance to the true crime genre.

How can I watch Under the Bridge?

You can now stream all eight episodes of Under the Bridge on Disney+.

This article was originally published in June, 2024, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Disney+/Supplied.

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