“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)…

Lily Gladstone’s Oscar nomination was not a fluke.

In her latest project, “Under the Bridge,” we get another fully realized character, one interested in discovering who was responsible for the death of a 14-year-old girl.

Based on an incident in Victoria, B.C., in 1997, the limited series follows Gladstone – as a local law enforcement official – and Riley Keough – as author Rebecca Godfrey – as they try to piece together the details.

What they learn: Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta) was beaten and drowned by people she knew and, in some cases, admired. She wanted to be accepted by girls she considered popular and, frequently, went against her family’s wishes to pursue those relationships.

A local law enforcement official (Lily Gladstone) is drawn into a dark world of suspects in a murder case in “Under the Bridge.”

Darko Sikman/Hulu

Told in flashbacks and interviews, “Under the Bridge” has a “been-there-seen-that” quality that makes much of this seem too familiar. (On the list: “Mare of Easttown,” “True Detective,” “Sharp Objects.”) What sets it apart is Gladstone – who’s incredibly real – and the actors playing teenagers leading Reena into temptation.

When they’re quizzed about the situation, “Bridge” doesn’t seem like a typical true-crime drama.

Godfrey’s book embraced that detail which, undoubtedly, helped writer Quinn Shephard craft something other than another “Dateline” episode.

Sure, there are side stories designed to drag this out. But there’s a thread about John Gotti, “gangstas” and mob rule that helps “Bridge” rise above.

While several directors helmed episodes, this might have benefited from a single vision, limiting the number of instances where we get crucial information. What fascinates is Godfrey’s quasi-journalist approach to the story. How she gets people to talk (and what she does when they don’t want to) says plenty about investigations and why lurid true-crime stories dominate podcasts and broadcast TV.

Shephard (and others) muddy the waters with detail that isn’t necessary. Gladstone gets her own family disconnects and has a tie to Reena that makes the case important. But Godfrey’s approach doesn’t always emerge as acceptable.

To fully understand what’s at play, “Under the Bridge” needed footnotes that didn’t require whole episodes of backstory.

The culture in 1990s Canada and the lives of immigrants in a predominantly white community are key to understanding what happened. Perhaps that information could have been shared in less obvious ways.

Keough, playing a fledgling writer posing as a journalist, is interesting but troubling. That pulls focus away from Reena and suggests everything suspect isn’t under the bridge. The series unpacks more issues than it probably should but speaks to the complexity of the situation. In the world of relationships, file this under “it’s complicated.”