In 2019, writer Rebecca Godfrey released a book that would become a bestseller, Under the Bridge, inspired by an extremely sad and scary true story. She recounts in detail the murder of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old Canadian girl who was beaten and killed by a group of teenagers in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada, in 1997. At the time, in addition to the victim’s age, it was very striking that she was a victim of bullying and attacks from other girls, with six teenagers being arrested (there is a boy among the girls) and heavy backstage abuse, drugs, and racism.

Unsurprisingly, the book was turned into a series, produced by Reese Witherspoon which will debut in April in the United States. In the cast, two young actresses stood out in 2023: Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone, who play the author of the book and the detective who solved the mystery together.

The mystery of the crime: who wanted to kill Reena Virk?

In November 1997, the half-naked body of a 14-year-old girl was found floating near the Craigflower Bridge in the city of Saanich, Canada. Identified as Reena Virk, daughter of Indian immigrants, she was a young woman with a troubled past who was beaten before being drowned in the river. Even with all the “problems”, wasn’t there an explanation that could justify who could be so violent towards her?

The answer was even scarier: other young girls.

Coming from a foreign culture considered the “minority among minorities”, Reena was described as a teenager desperate for acceptance among her peers. Overweight, insecure, and repressed by her family’s religious culture, Reena Virk wanted to be someone else and live somewhere else. Her lack of hope was so great that she falsely reported her father for sexual abuse in the hope of being transferred to a foster home and having more freedom. She only became more restricted under their control as a result. In this way, the young woman’s vulnerability only grew.

Flirting with danger

As a typical teenager, Reena believed in marginalized groups like her tribe, but in reality, she didn’t fit into any of them. She started to admire/follow some girls who acted like punks or street gangs, who used drugs, drank, and were aggressive.

On the night of November 14, 1997, as Rebecca Godfrey details in her book, she was invited to attend a party under the bridge, but would not make it out alive. Witnesses say everyone was drinking and smoking marijuana when a group known as the Shoreline Six began attacking Reena. The physical violence escalated, with one of the girls putting out a cigarette on the teenager’s forehead while seven or eight other people watched. Reena was repeatedly beaten, punched, and kicked, had several cigarette burns on her skin, and apparently attempts were made to set her hair on fire. And that was just the first beating of the night. One of the six told the others to stop.

Badly injured, Reena managed to escape but was followed by two members of the group, who dragged her to the other side of the bridge, made her take off her shoes and jacket, and beat her a second time. When Reena was unconscious, they threw her body into the water.

Disappearance

Due to the tense history at home, Reena’s family was not immediately surprised when she did not return home, and when she went to the police, they treated the case as an escape, taking time to carry out more detailed searches. Almost 10 days passed until, following an anonymous tip, the police arrived at the body abandoned on the riverbank.

Although the official cause of death was drowning, an autopsy later revealed that the injuries to her head and body were so severe that she was unlikely to have survived. Still, the world was shocked.

Eight teenagers were arrested, seven of them girls. The casualness of describing the attack as “a group of friends going out and things happened” because of “rumors” only added to the absurdity of the crime.

The final version was that two girls knew that Reena had stolen the phone book of someone in the group and started calling her friends to spread rumors. This was the one who then stubbed out a cigarette on Reena Virk’s forehead during the attack. The rest were motivated by pure racism.

In theory, there was a pact of silence between those involved, but soon rumors about the alleged murder spread through the school they attended, although Reena Virk studied at another. Several uninvolved students and teachers were aware, but no one reported it. Just eight days after the fact that police used a helicopter to find the partially clothed body that had already been washed ashore on an island near Vancouver investigations began, thanks to two teenagers who decided to discover the truth.

From film to series: crime gains platform

The book was published in 2005 and the original plan of Reese Witherspoon‘s company, which specializes in adapting the novel for the screen, was to turn Under The Bridge into a film, but development didn’t go that far. The process went from 2007 to 2011, when plans changed and it was decided that it would become a series.

It should be remembered that the MAX series with Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown, is also freely inspired by Reena Virk‘s crime. In Under the Bridge, Riley Keough (who starred in another Witherspoon production, Daisy Jones and The Six) plays the writer, Rebecca, who despite her lack of experience was so marked by the story that she personally dedicated herself to the investigation. Lily Gladstone is alongside her as the detective assigned to solve the mystery.

We will know more about the production and where it will be shown in Brazil soon. Without a doubt, it promises very exciting moments.

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