--- title: "How to Get to Heaven from Belfast" year: 2026 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast" fi1m_id: "how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast" imdb_id: "tt31709373" tmdb_id: 233079 wikidata_id: "Q129101587" fi1m_score: 78 critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-11" updated: "2026-09-17T10:25:12.330709+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (2026) Created by Lisa McGee · MPA TV-MA · Mystery, Comedy, Drama ## Identity How to Get to Heaven from Belfast - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast - **IMDb ID:** tt31709373 - **TMDB ID:** 233079 - **Wikidata ID:** Q129101587 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31709373/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/233079, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q129101587 **Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 79 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* A suspicious death is no reason to stop finding your oldest friends ridiculous > Lisa McGee’s mystery-comedy earns our time through three convincing friends and a welcome lack of dignity. The plotting wanders and some silliness feels compulsory, but the company is good enough to keep us watching. ## Synopsis Lifelong friends Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) investigate a suspicious death, setting off on a chase through rural Ireland. As they try to find out what has happened, the series moves between two timelines, following their friendship in the past and the present. Written by Lisa McGee, this eight-episode series combines a murder mystery with comedy and drama about women who have known one another for much of their lives. The cast also includes Natasha O’Keeffe as Greta, Bronagh Gallagher as Booker and Darragh Hand as Liam. ## Review *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast* is good company, though its mystery sometimes makes rather too much work for everyone involved. Lisa McGee sends three lifelong friends into an investigation of a suspicious death, testing how far familiar comic company can carry a more complicated story. Across eight episodes, there is room for affection, irritation and plenty of foolishness. The difficulty is that the investigation keeps demanding attention just when the women have become interesting enough without it. Roisin Gallagher’s Saoirse, Sinéad Keenan’s Robyn and Caoilfhionn Dunne’s Dara are the reason to stay. Their ease together makes the long friendship credible before the series asks us to care about its history. We believe that these women can find each other exhausting and still prefer each other to almost anyone else, which matters when the plot becomes difficult to believe. McGee’s Northern Irish humour depends on people being blunt without making their affection doubtful, and all three actors manage that. The flashbacks give us a reason to care when the investigation becomes cumbersome. We were more moved than we expected by seeing the friendship at different ages, because the women’s shared past makes their present-day loyalty feel earned. McGee lets growing older matter without treating silliness as a youthful failing everyone should have outgrown. These are adult lives in which being sensible remains an occasional achievement. Directors George Kane, Michael Lennox and Rachna Suri oversee a series with plenty of competing demands, from a rural Irish chase to scenes built around friendship. The dance scenes offer welcome relief from the business of following the mystery. They also suggest how enjoyable the programme can be when movement and performance are allowed to do more of the work. Those passages feel less strained than some of the more outlandish situations, where the effort to be entertaining becomes noticeable. The main reservation is how much McGee asks the plot to accommodate. The two timelines, the suspicious death and the comic detours do not always help one another, and the pacing suffers when another diversion postpones what we want to know. Some of the absurdity feels imposed on the characters, making them serve a joke rather than giving them something funny to do. Nothing here needed to become solemn, but a few complications could have been left out. McGee’s *Derry Girls* makes an obvious comparison, but expecting the same programme with older characters would miss what she is attempting. Here, the humour has to share space with regret and suspicion, and that is a worthwhile change of subject. The central performances make the adjustment more comfortably than the elaborate plotting does. As a mystery-comedy, it gets an important thing right: we care who is doing the investigating before we start counting clues. Try it for the friendship, and expect to be occasionally impatient with the case. *Fi1m score 78, published 11 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics welcome How to Get to Heaven from Belfast as a witty mystery-comedy whose strongest asset is the friendship at its centre. Praise clusters around Lisa McGee’s dry Northern Irish humour, the central trio’s lived-in chemistry and the cast’s handling of silliness alongside more adult concerns. The Guardian singles out Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s performance, while several reviews find emotional weight in the friendships rather than just comic relief. Reservations concern the machinery surrounding those relationships: dual timelines, elaborate intrigue, uneven pacing and outlandish situations that do not always land. The spread is wide despite the broadly positive consensus. Paste finds an entertaining but overcomplicated series that falls short of Derry Girls’ comic assurance; NME is more firmly opposed, judging the plotting derivative and the shifts in tone unconvincing. The main divide is over whether the mystery sustains the comedy or gets in its way. ## Straight answers **Is How to Get to Heaven from Belfast worth watching?** *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast* is worth watching for the three friends at its centre, and we scored it 78. Roisin Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan and Caoilfhionn Dunne make a long friendship credible before the mystery asks anything of us. Expect the investigation to wander and some of the silliness to feel compulsory; the company carries it. **How long is How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, and what is it rated?** *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast* is rated TV-MA by the MPA in the US. It is a mystery and comedy series. **Where can I watch How to Get to Heaven from Belfast in the US?** *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast* is streaming on Netflix in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, and is it suitable for children?** *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast* is a 15 in the UK and TV-MA in the US, so it is not for children. It is a mystery-comedy built around a suspicious death rather than horror, and the tone is blunt and foul-mouthed rather than frightening. Teenagers of fifteen and over who can take adult language and a murder plot should be fine. **How does How to Get to Heaven from Belfast compare to Derry Girls?** *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast* is a slower, sadder programme than [*Derry Girls*](https://film.one/tv/derry-girls), sharing its humour with regret and suspicion, and Lisa McGee's earlier sitcom is the tighter and funnier of the two. Here the mystery keeps interrupting the friendship, where *Derry Girls* let the friendship run the show. Come for grown-up versions of the same bluntness, not the same speed. **What should I watch after How to Get to Heaven from Belfast?** After *How to Get to Heaven from Belfast*, try [*Derry Girls*](https://film.one/tv/derry-girls) (2018, Fi1m 83): McGee’s earlier series gives unruly friendship more room than the mystery allows here. Then [*Bad Sisters*](https://film.one/tv/bad-sisters) (2022, Fi1m 78): Irish family loyalties complicate a dark comedy with a suspicious death to untangle; and [*Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown*](https://film.one/film/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown) (1988, Fi1m 84): Almodóvar sends distressed women through an escalating farce, with affection beneath the chaos. ### Reviews we read (10) - **The Telegraph**, Anita Singh (5/5): The critic calls this a madcap chase through rural Ireland that is a hilarious thriller and celebration of friendship, with the comic brilliance of Derry Girls. They single out the twist at the end of episode one and the deft script and cracking cast. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-netflix-review/) - **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic praises this frenetic, witty murder-mystery caper from Lisa McGee as a switchbacking rush of joy with verve, acuity and havoc. They single out the sensational performance from Saoirse-Monica Jackson for particular praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/12/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-if-you-see-nothing-else-this-year-watch-this) - **Empire**, David Opie (80/100, inferred): McGee's signature comedy and the central trio's lived-in chemistry and Northern Irish humour shine, making the show worth savouring despite some outlandish scenarios landing better than others. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast/) - **Evening Standard**, Vicky Jessop (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the show crackling with dry wit and bonkers gags while exploring complicated female friendships in more adult territory than Derry Girls. They single out the bittersweet flashbacks and dance scenes for praise. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-netflix-lisa-mcgee-b1269811.html) - **Variety**, Alison Herman (70/100, inferred): The series is a level up in scale and ambition from Derry Girls but sometimes strains under the extra elements of dual timelines and deadly intrigue; it never loses the infectious appeal of the platonic chemistry at its core. [Read](https://variety.com/2026/tv/reviews/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-derry-girls-1236652592/) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers: The critic praises the series as a rollicking mystery from the Derry Girls creator, highlighting the lifelong friends digging into a suspicious death and the blend of genres. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-derry-girls-netflix-mystery-1235178884/) - **The Times** (★★★★☆): The critic says Derry Girls fans won’t be let down by this mystery-comedy that tackles grown-up themes with unadulterated silliness, like Agatha Christie meets Marian Keyes. They single out the effortless twists and emotional heart amid the high jinks. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-move-over-derry-girls-clfdglfn2) - **Digital Spy**, Laura Jane Turner (4/5): The critic calls it a brilliant must-watch mystery and more grown-up Derry Girls, praising the distinctive genre-bending story, strong female characters, and soundtrack while noting some pacing issues. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a70312060/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-netflix/) - **Paste**, Saloni Gajjar (B): The critic calls it an entertaining but bumpy ride as a buddy dramedy with too many detours that does not reach Derry Girls' comic heights or narrative confidence. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-review-netflix) - **NME**, James Mottram (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the series uneven and derivative, struggling in the long shadow of Derry Girls with a convoluted blackly comic murder-mystery plot that feels quirky for quirky's sake and tonally inconsistent. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-derry-girls-lisa-mcgee-3927735) ## Details - **Created by:** Lisa McGee - **Creator:** Lisa McGee - **Director:** George Kane, Michael Lennox, Rachna Suri - **Writer:** Lisa McGee - **Producer:** Brian J. Falconer - **Cast:** Roisin Gallagher as Saoirse; Sinead Keenan as Robyn; Caoilfhionn Dunne as Dara; Darragh Hand as Liam; Natasha O'Keeffe as Greta; Bronagh Gallagher as Booker; Emmett J. Scanlan as Owen; Emma Canning as Young Greta - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 12 February 2026 - **Genres:** Mystery, Comedy, Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6flC0y-2iFw ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming *Checked 2026-09-11.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Derry Girls* (2018), Fi1m 83: McGee’s earlier series gives unruly friendship more room than the mystery allows here. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/derry-girls.md) - *Deadloch* (2023): Australian murder enquiries meet abrasive humour and women with little patience for nonsense. - *Bad Sisters* (2022), Fi1m 78: Irish family loyalties complicate a dark comedy with a suspicious death to untangle. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/bad-sisters.md) - *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown* (1988), Fi1m 84: Almodóvar sends distressed women through an escalating farce, with affection beneath the chaos. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown.md) - *The Lady Vanishes* (1938), Fi1m 88: An amateur investigation becomes lively company, with wit doing useful work alongside suspense. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lady-vanishes.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast