TV Pick of the Week: How to Get to Heaven from Belfast - review by Yvette Huddleston
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Netflix, review by Yvette Huddleston
Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee’s new series is a genre-defying treat that takes you on a totally wild ride in the company of three feisty middle-aged women who have been carrying around a dark secret since they were in the sixth form at their Catholic High School in Belfast.
It opens with the trio – stressed and frustrated yummy mummy Robyn (Sinéad Keenan), successful TV screenwriter Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher) who divides her time between London and Belfast and gentle IT consultant Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) who, after breaking up with her girlfriend, is back living at home looking after her elderly mother – heading Donegal for the funeral of another friend Greta (Natasha O’Keeffe). They haven’t seen Greta, who apparently died after falling down the stairs, for over 20 years, having lost touch with her shortly after the thing they never talk about happened.
As they travel south of the border the three old friends exchange news, Robyn mostly complaining about her children and her dull husband Jim, while Saoirse is somewhat half-heartedly preparing for her forthcoming wedding to posh English TV producer Seb (Tom Basden). Arriving at the wake, in a grand house in the middle of the countryside, they are surprised to find that there are no other guests, just Greta’s new family including her taciturn, not to say slightly menacing, husband Owen (Emmett J Scanlan) who also happens to be the local police chief and her condescending mother Margo (Michelle Fairley).
While alone with the coffin, Saoirse makes a startling discovery which convinces her that the woman being buried is not actually Greta. She tells Robyn and Dara her suspicions and they reluctantly agree to try and get to the bottom of the mystery and try and find out what really happened to Greta. They book into the local hotel – there is a lovely cameo from Ardal O’Hanlon as the eccentric owner – and make contact with the local police, including handsome Gard Liam (Darragh Hand) who has his own misgivings about his boss Owen’s behaviour around the time of the death of his wife.
The three women then go on a wild journey following various leads, which includes an interlude in Portugal. Intercut with their adventures are flashbacks to their w teenage years which could hold some clues as to what might be happening now and why. It’s all extremely entertaining and there is a lovely bantering energy between the three actors, helped enormously by a classy script from McGee.