If you have mourned the absence of our beloved Derry girls from TV, Lisa McGee has a new Netflix series for you (sort of) grown-up and wonderfully chaotic.
Living across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and beyond, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast the writer/creator’s new dark comedy series, and his latest mystery behind the 2020 psychological thriller They are not deceived. Playful, strange, and surreal, the series, like its complex characters, refuses to be put into any kind of box (not even a shiny one with a combination lock).
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Not only praised for her portrayal of Northern Irish women, McGee is in a league of her own when she writes about female friendships, whether young or old: shockingly silly, brutally honest, fiercely loyal. In the heart of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast a group of childhood friends who have grown somewhat apart in their late 30s, not least because of a terrible secret that binds them forever. Here we have the gift of three holy comedies – Roisin Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan, and Caoilfhionn Dunne – and enough twists and turns to make you investigate the Land Rover Discovery.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast it’s a mystery worthy of the craic
What happened to Greta, really?
Credit: Christopher Barr / Netflix
Like many mystery writers, McGee is just getting started How to Get to Heaven from Belfast with the tragic death of a mysterious woman, his high school friends are called to his return to the fictional village of Knockdara in County Donegal, Ireland (the same setting as McGee’s). They are not deceived; the game was actually filmed in Carnlough, Northern Ireland). Knockdara has one hotel (with many, many themed nights), one taxi, one Garda station, and the usual cattle traffic.
Several mysteries fight for the front seat at the same time. What happened that night in the forest? What happened to Greta (Natasha O’Keeffe) 20 years later? And what does his strangely coordinated family not tell us? While this mystery series focuses on the “dead girl” series, with concerns that come home, hot police, investigative reporters, and many small town secrets, McGee, along with director Michael Lennox, destroy these things and put his stamp on the genre with a sharp script, a wild production design, a nostalgic castle ’00.
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Something about Greta’s “accidental” death doesn’t sit well with Saoirse (Gallagher), a crime-show writer drawn to a sinister plot who finds herself visited by ghosts, even at the BAFTAs. They are reluctant to join Saoirse’s sleuthing novice Robyn (Keenan), a smart, no-nonsense mother of three, and Dara (Dunne), a devoted lesbian who takes care of her underappreciated mother. They’re an unlikely investigative force with their measure: “We’re not the fuckin’ A-Team, Saoirse!” Robyn said.
None of these three will admit it out loud to each other, but they are to be thirsty hijinks, so when mysterious red characters appear, they hate to return the site of their terrible secret, while they enjoy seeing their daily life in the rear view. Here, their story spans time, connecting them to their youth, a diary, similar tattoos, and a long-buried secret.
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How to Get to Heaven from Belfastthe temptation of god
Sinéad Keenan, Caoilfhionn Dunne, and Roisin Gallagher.
Credit: Christopher Barr / Netflix
As for the leading trios, Gallagher, Keenan, and Dunne are a heaven-sent match, as put together as childhood friends can be. Whether they’re dealing with their anxieties or spitting out home truths to each other in a crumbling caretaker’s cottage, a luxurious Portuguese resort, or in Robyn’s slightly cramped Land Rover, the constant connection between the trio is the series’ incredible strength.
A boiling pot of angst, Keenan’s Robyn is a badass, throwing such tough parenting moments at her friends of the same age that you feel like going to your room. Gallagher’s jagged, flustered Saoirse relays her life events on her show The Killing Code while gnashing his teeth at meetings with his diva co-star (Leila Farzad) and Jesse Armstrong’s ever-present praise. And Dara, the moral compass for all who might come out of her guilt, benefits from Dunne’s witty body humor — honestly, just watching Dara peer by the door is TV gold.
Don’t mess with Booker (Bronagh Gallagher).
Credit: Christopher Barr / Netflix
Like this Derry girlsMcGee excels at crafting a cast of characters that surround the main characters so that they all have their own personalities, comedic opportunities, and varying degrees of respect for their hometown. O’Keeffe is haunted by the mysterious Greta. Darragh Hand is charming as local Garda Liam, as well-behaved and dedicated as he is handsome, not that Saoirse has noticed. Bronagh Gallagher delivers a terrific feminist No Country for Old Men power to Booker, a rabid Dolly Parton fan who is not to be trifled with. Derry girls‘ Saoirse-Monica Jackson is a delightfully consistent marvel as an underground person whose love of kawaii style hides a dark truth, kids.
Apart from these main characters, the series’ supporting cast boasts a gem, from the four teenagers (Emma Canning, Emily Flaim, Chara Aitken, and Maria Laird) to James Martin as the owner of the gas station Tommy, StarstruckNikesh Patel as Saoirse’s long-suffering agent, Niamh Finlay as Knockdara’s cruel waitress, and Kerr Logan as the hapless hotel owner who summoned Norman.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast create a strange noir with production design
Uhhhh, guys?
Credit: Christopher Barr / Netflix
Undoubtedly, the secret stars of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland themselves. Photographed by director of photography Ashley Barron using landscape shots (appropriate for a mystery series these days), extreme Dutch angles, and fish-eye shots, the characters and Irish landscapes of Donegal, Cork, and Belfast (of course) are framed brilliantly, an extension of each other and in a strange and wonderful way.
If you don’t develop the beauty of nature, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast sees producer designer Tom Conroy throwing places in hyper-surrealist color all the time, giving the series a strange sound. Backed by the fascinating awakening of costume designer Cathy Prior and hair and makeup designer Robyn Wheeler, McGee cooks up a neon-hued setting for this dark tale. Bright pink hotel signs are reflected in the pools on a dark and stormy night, the theater dance floor glows with purple and red gels, the nighttime car rides glow with strange colors.
It’s coming in.
Credit: Christopher Barr / Netflix
As a story about the past, the series jumps between periods from the ’90s to the ’00s to the present, with nostalgia being the main direction of the tunes here. Music director Catherine Grimes continues with McGee’s Derry girls a complete playlist with multiple needle drops suitable for a burned CD. Eternal bangers from Girls Aloud, Vengaboys, Nelly, DJ Sammy, Junior Senior, Atomic Kitten, Black Eyed Peas, and B*Witched will unlock a special moment of youth for the millennial audience in particular.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast it’s as classic a mystery as it is Lisa McGee’s unique celebration of girlhood and adulthood, of lifelong friendships and repressed traumas, repressed memories, and connections at home that most of us end up leaving. It’s funny, it’s amazing, and it’s heavenly in every way.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast airs February 12 on Netflix.
