Netflix’s new Irish thriller will leave you cackling but desperate for answers

Following up one of the most original, hilarious and poignant shows of all time was never going to be an easy task.

Although How to Get to Heaven from Belfast might not quite reach the dizzying heights that its predecessor Derry Girls achieved worldwide, it’s still a solid offering from creator Lisa McGee.

Nearly a decade ago, the Irish screenwriter’s comedy became one of the most talked about series in years, following a group of Catholic teenage girls growing up in Derry in the 1990s during The Troubles (along with a ‘wee English fella’ as their unexpected sidekick). 

It was irreverent, refreshing and, at times, incredibly touching (fans will remember just how tear-jerking the final ever scene was).

Four years on from its conclusion, McGee is now back with a new show, an eight-part Netflix series that also follows a group of female friends – but this time, they’re adult women who’ve been connected since their school days.

In the years since graduating, all have taken very different life paths. Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher) has carved out a successful career as the screenwriter of a crime drama, but is feeling creatively stifled, Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) is a high-flying mum-of-three but seems ready to crack, and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) is a religious gay woman nervous to find her way in the world.

Although the trio have maintained a close bond in the decades since meeting, they are unexpectedly pulled back together on a dangerous adventure after each being sent an email from a mysterious woman alerting them to the fact that their estranged school friend Greta has died.

Meeting up to attend her wake and pay their respects, it turns out that the friends have a pretty huge ulterior motive – they need to find out whether their late friend ever spilled a massive secret that they’ve kept hidden for years.

Things get even more complicated though, after it emerges that the body in the casket isn’t actually Greta, with a dangerous adventure through Ireland then playing out as they try to connect the dots of the past, and come to the realisation that their friend might have kept even bigger secrets from them.

The chemistry between the core cast is electric, and it’s completely believable that they’ve been close for years. The friends bicker, make personal digs and have minor fallouts, but always come back together – a truly touching nod to long-term friendships that are sometimes just as strong as familial bonds.

Special mention must go to Saoirse-Monica Jackson (who starred as Erin in Derry Girls – keep an eye out for a nod to that series in the final episode), whose role will be kept under wraps for now out of fear for spoilers, as well as Say Nothing’s Josh Finan, who plays the son of a man who went missing when the girlfriends were teenagers, and is now looking for answers.

Although it might have been easy for McGee to push out another series packed full of quips and gags, she’s taken a brave step in pushing her boundaries and turning her attention to a thriller.

Despite the genre switch, fans of hers will be delighted to know there’s still plenty of genuinely laugh-out-loud moments.

Personal favourites include a policeman from the Republic of Ireland telling the trio that, ‘It’s not like you lot to waste petrol’, confusion about whether one character has joined the IRA, Isis or simply Bupa, and an attempted body retrieval plot at a funeral going totally haywire. 

Like Derry Girls before it, the series is jam-packed with songs from the time period, all carefully selected to provide a time capsule for those who lived through the early noughties, or allow others to have an immersive experience of what it might have been like.

As a show set in Ireland, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast unsurprisingly includes both light-hearted and more darker references to religion, with a religious pilgrimage on a country road hilariously delaying an important chase.

A poignant reference to the lack of choices pregnant women faced with unwanted pregnancies at the time is also incredibly affecting.

For all its strengths, the series does have its downfalls though.

At eight episodes long, with several pushing the hour-long run time, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast does drag at times.

While there’s plenty of context to explain, told across two time periods (in 2003 and the more present day), some scenes and storylines feel as though they’re weighing the main story down.

Although most of the threads do tie up in the final episode, it does unfortunately feel like some of them could have been better explained as I found myself desperate for more information about some of the finer details and questioning whether I missed certain plot points.

But with an almighty cliffhanger unexpectedly dropping at the end of the series, I wouldn’t want to miss out on seeing what adventures the trio of girlfriends might go on next.

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is now streaming on Netflix.

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