HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST preview
When Lisa McGee set out to write her new Netflix series HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST, she knew she was returning to familiar territory—not geographically, though Belfast certainly looms large, but thematically. The award-winning creator of DERRY GIRLS has always had a gift for excavating humor from the darkest soil, and her latest offering follows three friends reuniting for their childhood companion’s funeral, only to stumble into a mystery that spirals far beyond what any of them expected. It’s an unlikely premise for comedy, perhaps, but McGee has built her reputation on exactly this kind of tonal tightrope walk.
DERRY GIRLS found its comedic pulse against the backdrop of the Troubles in 1990s Northern Ireland, mining absurdist gold from the cultural fault lines that divided communities—who can forget the revelation that Protestants keep their toasters in cupboards, or that Catholics harbor an inexplicable devotion to statues? That show’s success lay in its ability to locate the ridiculous within the real, and HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST shares that same DNA. But where DERRY GIRLS was coming-of-age chaos, this new venture leans into something slightly more unsettling. The three friends arrive for their companion’s wake—a traditional Irish gathering where the deceased is brought home and mourners convene to talk, drink, and celebrate a life before burial or cremation—only to discover that nothing about their friend’s death is quite as straightforward as it seemed. What begins as grief soon curdles into suspicion, and before long they’re careening through an eerie adventure that takes them across Ireland and beyond.
McGee describes the show as essentially a murder mystery, though she’s quick to add the qualifier “but funny, hopefully.” It’s that hope, that refusal to let darkness have the final word, that defines her work. Starring Sinéad Keenan as Robyn, Caoilfhionn Dunne as Dara, and Róisín Gallagher as Saoirse, the series centers three women at a particular inflection point in their lives—the kind of stage where careers plateau or surge, where aging parents require care, where motherhood and ambition collide in ways no one quite prepared you for. McGee knows this terrain intimately, having drawn on her own friendships and experiences when crafting the show. She wanted to give these women one last adventure, a chance to shake off the weight of responsibility and rediscover something they’d lost along the way.
Central to everything is Belfast itself, and the dark Northern Irish sense of humor that McGee wields like a scalpel. Some of the themes are darker than what viewers might expect from the woman who gave us uniformed Catholic schoolgirls navigating bomb scares and boy bands, and the genre shift is deliberate. There’s mystery here, genuine suspense, but it’s all filtered through a lens that refuses to take itself too seriously. McGee has always understood that laughter and grief aren’t opposites but neighbors, and in HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST, they share a wall so thin you can hear one through the other. It’s a show about death, yes, but also about friendship, about the versions of ourselves we leave behind, and about what happens when the past reaches out and demands we pay attention. And if that sounds heavy, well, McGee has never been afraid of weight—she just knows how to make you laugh while you’re carrying it.
THE MUMMY is coming to theaters Fri Apr 17.
Lee Cronin—the visionary behind THE HOLE IN THE GROUND and EVIL DEAD RISE—is back with an audacious, twisted retelling that`s already getting rave reviews. A young girl vanishes for eight years. When she finally returns, what should be a joyful reunion becomes a living nightmare.
Watch trailer now at irishfilmtv.com.
SNL UK IS BACK AND WE`RE LIVING FOR IT 🚨✨
Nicola Coughlan (yes, THAT Nicola Coughlan) is hosting on April 25th with the absolute legends that are @foofighters taking the stage 🎸
DERRY GIRLS fans, BRIDGERTON obsessives, this is your moment!
More Nicola at irishfilmtv.com.
Graham Norton is stepping into uncharted territory with THE NEIGHBOURHOOD—an ITV gameshow that`s about to flip the reality TV script entirely.
What happens when you put everyday people in extraordinary circumstances and ask them to compete against their neighbors for serious money?
More at irishfilmtv.com.
17 years old. A trip to Holland. Two Irish lads with big dreams and zero idea what was coming.
That`s where Ciarán Hinds and Liam Neeson bonded—and it changed everything. 🎬
In a beautiful moment on the Late Late Show, Hinds reflected on the power of those formative years—and why family, not accolades, is what truly matters. 💫
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
72 hours. One decision. Everything on the line.
Andrew Scott is stepping into one of WWII`s most untold stories in the upcoming film PRESSURE—where a meteorologist`s weather forecast became the most consequential prediction in history.
Watch new trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
🎬 THE YEAR OF ÉANNA HARDWICKE 🎬
From SAIPAN to THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD to NO ORDINARY HEIST—this is the actor`s defining moment. An IFTA winner. A West End star. Now a desperate man caught in a heist like no other.
In cinemas THIS WEEK: a gripping true story of the infamous Northern Bank robbery. £26.5 million. Two families held hostage. No way out.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
BELFAST`s Jamie Dornan will host SNL UK this weekend.
Dornan, known for his role in FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and THE TOURIST, will front the program alongside Brit-award winning band Wolf Alice.
The show marks the first British incarnation of the sketch series, which was created by Lorne Michaels and first launched in the US in 1975.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
In a brand-new interview, OUTLANDER star/executive producer, Caitríona Balfe, discusses THAT pivotal Season 8, Episode 3 scene where Claire saves a baby.
A must-watch for OUTLANDER fans!
More at irishfilmtv.com.
✨ Brendan Gleeson just reminded us why he`s one of the greats ✨
Yesterday at the London Standard Theatre Awards, Gleeson took the night for his performance in THE WEIR—and honestly? there`s no one else who could have done it quite like him.
This is an actor who doesn`t perform. he breathes into the role. he becomes it. soul-deep, nuanced, the kind of characterisation that makes you forget you`re watching acting at all.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
