Even though Lily Gladstone’s new TV show Under The Bridge has a perfectly respectable score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s still the third-lowest score of her 11-year acting career. Developed by Quinn Shephard, Under the Bridge tells the true story of the murder of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old girl who was killed by her peers in 1997. The true crime Hulu miniseries is based on the 2005 book of the same name by Rebecca Godfrey (played by Riley Keough), a writer who got wrapped up in the investigation of Virk’s murder.

The cast of Under the Bridge also includes newcomer Vritika Gupta as Virk and Gladstone as Cam Betland, a fictional character written for the show who is the only officer of color in the Victoria police department. Since the release of the first two of eight episodes of the miniseries on April 17, 2024, the reviews for Under the Bridge have been generally positive. However, despite its critical acclaim, Under the Bridge still pails in comparison to most of Gladstone’s past roles in this respect.

Under the Bridge episodes 1 and 2 are available to stream on Hulu.


Riley Keough as Rebecca Godfrey from Under the Bridge© Provided by ScreenRant

Under the Bridge’s soundtrack includes a number of hip-hop and rap songs that help define the characters and shape the plot of the Hulu miniseries.

Under The Bridge’s 81% Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Lily Gladstone’s Third-Lowest Rating

Two-Thirds Of Lily Gladstone’s Rotten Tomatoes Scores Are 90% & Above

As Lily Gladstone’s follow-up to Killers of the Flower Moon, which earned them their first Oscar nomination, Under the Bridge is far from a disappointment. An 81% critics score is an objectively good rating for any project, but not in the context of Gladstone’s unbelievably impressive 11-year track record. Among her movies and TV shows on Rotten Tomatoes, Under the Bridge is rated third from the bottom of Gladstone’s catalog. The only projects starring Gladstone with lower scores on the Tomatometer are 2013’s Winter in the Blood with 67% and 2022’s The Last Manhunt with an abysmal 18%.

Two-thirds of Gladstone’s filmography is 90% and above, including two TV shows with 99% and two movies with 100%.

Though Gladstone has a few projects with audience scores in the 50s, The Last Manhunt is her only “Rotten” movie on the Tomatometer. This singular “Rotten” score would be shockingly low for most esteemed actors, but it’s even more so for Gladstone, given that it’s in such stark contrast to even their next lowest score of 67%. None of her other projects even come close to 18%; in fact, two-thirds of Gladstone’s filmography is above 90%, including two TV shows with 99% and two movies with 100%.

Lily Gladstone’s Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Title

Year(s)

Type

Role

Critics Score

Audience Score

Winter in the Blood

2013

Movie

Marlene

67%

73%

Certain Women

2016

Movie

The Rancher

92%

51%

Walking Out

2017

Movie

Lila

90%

56%

Room 104

2017-2020

TV Show

911 Operator (Season 1) Abby (Season 4)

88%

55%

First Cow

2019

Movie

Chief Factor’s Wife

96%

65%

Billions

2019-2023

TV Show

Roxanne

87%

67%

Freeland

2020

Movie

Mara

100%

62%

Tuca & Bertie

2021

TV Show

Hawk Mechanic

99%

83%

The Last Manhunt

2022

Movie

Maria

18%

86%

The Unknown Country

2022

Movie

Tana

92%

79%

Quantum Cowboys

2022

Movie

Linde

100%

93%

Reservation Dogs

2022-2023

TV Show

Hokti

99%

91%

Fancy Dance

2023

Movie

Jax

97%

N/A

Killers of the Flower Moon

2023

Movie

Mollie Burkhart

93%

84%

Under the Bridge

2024

TV Show

Cam Bentland

81%

86%


Edited image of Riley Keough & Lily Gladstone during Under the Bridge interview© Provided by ScreenRant

Related

Lily Gladstone Passionately Explains How Indigenous Identity Adds Layers To Under The Bridge

Under The Bridge stars Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough discuss their research for Hulu’s true crime drama and how indigenous identity plays a role.

Lily Gladstone’s Movies & TV Shows Have Set Such An Absurdly High Standard For Her Future Roles

Anything Below 90% Will Rank Toward The Bottom Of Gladstone’s Filmography On Rotten Tomatoes

It’s remarkable that Gladstone has such a highly-rated catalog that a score in the 80s is among their worst, but it also puts a lot more pressure on her. If a critically acclaimed series like Under the Bridge with 81% still lands in the bottom three of her filmography, any future projects of Gladstone’s will have to meet a ridiculously high standard just to avoid this same fate. In order to even break into the top 50% of her scores, Gladstone’s next movie or TV show would have to rate above 92%, which is a tall order for any project.

Scores that would be cause for celebration for even some of the most acclaimed and prolific actors fall short in comparison to Gladstone’s other projects because of the precedent her previous work has set.

Ultimately, Gladstone’s Rotten Tomatoes success is a blessing and a curse: having such a highly-rated filmography across the board is praiseworthy, but it also creates a disproportionately higher average score to achieve than someone with more evenly distributed scores. Scores that would be cause for celebration for even some of the most acclaimed and prolific actors fall short in comparison to Gladstone’s other projects because of the precedent her previous work has set.


Under the Bridge TV Show Poster Featuring Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone Standing in front of a Woman’s Silhouette© Provided by ScreenRant