Our take
After losing a former friend, you would think that the three women in How to Get to Heaven from Belfast would be mourning, reminiscing about the past, and maybe go on a wholesome road trip that changes their lives for the better. Except, the show takes on a completely different approach. As the crime writer protagonist, of course, Saoirse brings her genre-savvy know-how to figure out the circumstances of Greta’s death. But there’s a bit of everything here– the somewhat supernatural vibe of every flashback she has, the mystery of whatever secret the four women share, and the chaotic shenanigans that these women get into as a result of being mentally stuck in their youth. How to Get to Heaven from Belfast isn’t quite Derry Girls, but writer-director Lisa McGee delivers the signature female friendships and distinctly Irish humor she’s best known for.
The story
Three lifelong pals embark on a chaotic quest to solve the mystery of their old friend's suspicious death and keep their own dark secret under wraps.
Elsewhere
"enjoyed the twists of Greta’s story but I could have done without some of the more bizarre turns in the later episodes. I kept coming back to the show instead for its bleakly funny portrait of middle-aged friendship."
— Anna Russell
"Making the meal of a season even more savory is how McGee meets her own daunting challenge."
— Ben Travers
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
