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
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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