How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, Season 1 Feature Scores
Explore all 56 feature scores for How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, Season 1, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
Summary
56 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.031 (55%)
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Positive 3.5-4.418 (32%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.45 (9%)
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Negative 1.5-2.42 (4%)
Pros
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The central trio's chemistry is the clearest point of agreement. Their bickering, affection, old grudges, and effortless rhythm make the decades-long friendship feel lived in and often carry the show when the mystery wobbles.
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The series is repeatedly praised for feeling unmistakably Northern Irish and Irish, from Catholicism and language to pop culture, geography, humor, and the lingering aftereffects of the Troubles. Several reviewers saw that specificity as one of its richest qualities.
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Roisin Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan, and Caoilfhionn Dunne are repeatedly identified as the engine of the series. Their timing, emotional range, and ability to play off one another keep the story afloat through its messier stretches.
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The humor is frequently described as laugh-out-loud, quick-witted, dark, and unmistakably Irish, with the trio's insults doing much of the work. A smaller group felt the laughs thinned out as the series became busier and darker.
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McGee's rapid-fire dialogue is a major strength: sharp, profane, layered, and often devastatingly funny in the same breath. Its speed can demand concentration, but reviewers repeatedly say the banter crackles.
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Lisa McGee's writing is praised across the set for wit, specificity, fast dialogue, character insight, and the ability to find humor in darkness. The main knock is overreach: the plot sometimes grows so elaborate that the machinery starts to show.
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The dominant response is that the show is enormously entertaining, with reviewers calling it a belter, a rush of joy, great craic, and one of the year's best. Even several mixed reviews concede that the trio makes it very watchable.
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Friendship, memory, guilt, identity, trauma, midlife disappointment, Catholic inheritance, and the stories people tell about themselves all give the caper extra weight. Reviewers often found the emotional and cultural ideas richer than the literal whodunit mechanics.
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This is widely described as a hard show to stop watching, and several reviewers tore through all eight episodes quickly. The main drag on the binge is repetition and a season some felt could have been shorter.
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The bench is unusually strong, with several tiny roles earning specific cheers and guest performers making vivid impressions quickly. A few mystery figures are underwritten, but the performers themselves are rarely the problem.
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The show scatters enough danger, clues, eerie imagery, and withheld information to keep most reviewers curious. Suspense is strongest when tied to the women's past; the more labyrinthine conspiracy material can blur that focus.
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Derry Girls echoes, cameos, mural nods, and Easter eggs delighted many fans without preventing this series from developing its own identity. A few critics thought the callbacks lingered too long or made the follow-up feel derivative.
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Performance quality is one of the safest bets here. Reviewers repeatedly call the ensemble excellent or brilliant, with the actors selling both the manic comedy and the heavier emotional turns.
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The adult friends are given meaningful midlife frustrations, old wounds, and evolving self-understanding, with Saoirse especially well developed. Some reviewers wanted more depth for Dara, Greta, and a few supporting figures.
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The best twists repeatedly overturn expectations without feeling arbitrary, and several reviewers praised how earlier assumptions are reframed. Their sheer frequency can create whiplash, but unpredictability is a major part of the fun.
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The central friendship and buried-secret mystery give the season a strong narrative engine, and most reviewers stayed invested. The recurring caveat is sprawl: side plots, identities, and escalating conspiracy can become more complicated than the emotional core needs.
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For many reviewers, the comedy-mystery-thriller blend is exactly the appeal: strange, dark, funny, and unpredictable. The dissenters found the same mixture overstuffed, uncertain of its identity, or weaker when the crime mechanics took over.
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Ireland is photographed with real atmosphere, from lovely scenery and striking locations to vibrant or ominous visual shifts. Even mixed reviews often acknowledged how good the series looks.
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A sizeable group finished wanting more time with the trio and explicitly hoped for another season. That enthusiasm is tempered by a few reviewers who either disliked the characters or worried that the final tease could become frustrating if the story stopped there.
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The central mystery reaches a real resolution, and several reviewers found the ending effective or satisfying enough. Others thought it was tepid, anticlimactic, overly perplexing, or too eager to leave certain characters available for more.
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Most reviewers found the series highly enjoyable and easy to recommend, with several calling it a must-watch or hoping it finds a larger audience. A minority saw its sensory overload and tonal excess as likely to make it a love-it-or-hate-it watch.
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Beneath the jokes, reviewers found a meaningful emotional current about grief, regret, friendship, and the lives the women did not end up living. Small lines and exchanges often linger after their immediate punch line.
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The show gets strong marks for polished, detail-rich environments, especially the early-2000s material and the money visibly put on screen. Period touches and Irish locations make the world feel textured rather than generic.
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The tonal juggling is the season's biggest fault line. Some reviewers admired how comedy, dread, grief, and absurdity flow together; others felt the series became stressful, inconsistent, or like two different shows by the finale.
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Rather than recreating the Troubles directly, the series brings their cultural aftereffects into the present through memory, language, borders, Catholicism, and inherited caution. Reviewers praised that contemporary framing for being both specific and understated.
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The music is a standout for many reviewers, with early-2000s pop and Irish-flavored selections called exquisite, perfectly timed, or tremendous. One critic did tire of repeated needle drops, so the enthusiasm is strong rather than unanimous.
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The leads' messy flaws are part of the design, and many reviewers found their chaos endearing or outright lovable. Others found the bickering trio difficult to believe as best friends or not likable enough to sustain another season.
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Flashbacks, road-trip detours, and overlapping clues often keep the mystery lively and reveal character along the way. Repeated scenes and a recurring trouble-clue-escape pattern made the structure feel formulaic to some binge viewers.
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The opening is an immediate hook: reviewers call it a doozy, sharply funny, and fascinating. It establishes danger, friendship, and mystery quickly enough to make several viewers want to keep going almost at once.
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The leads stay recognizably themselves even while making disastrous choices. Reviewers appreciated that later scenes tend to explain apparent contradictions through history, personality, and the long habits of friendship.
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Direction drew direct praise for keeping the chaos visually lively and emotionally legible. Michael Lennox is singled out as captivating, while another review applauds the fish-eye choices and comic quick-cut technique.
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The script draws emphatic praise for its wit, character conflict, and ability to make chaos feel natural. Even when the plot is criticized, the actual scene writing and comic construction are often treated as first-rate.
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The early run is commonly described as propulsive and addictive, while the later stretch divides opinion. Some liked the escalating road-trip energy; others felt the mystery stretched, repeated itself, or lost momentum near the end.
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The crime plot is often proudly absurd, yet reviewers found the friendship, arguments, and emotional reactions surprisingly authentic. Even improbable situations can feel grounded when the women start talking like people who have known one another for decades.
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The pubs, roads, villages, police stations, cultural references, and eccentric locals create a vivid Irish world. Some reviewers wished the increasingly large conspiracy and supporting cast had been explored as deeply as the setting itself.
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The friendship does more than trade insults: the women are pushed to own their choices and repair damaged trust. Reviewers found that reckoning genuine, especially when the story connects present behavior to older wounds.
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The Belfast and Donegal speech is part of the fun, with slang, wisecracks, and Derry-accented digs adding a strong sense of place. One reviewer even recommends subtitles so none of the craic slips by.
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At least one small continuity choice earned explicit praise: damage to the women's car remains visible instead of magically disappearing after the mishap. That kind of follow-through helped the chaotic road trip feel coherent.
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Costuming gets its biggest boost from Saoirse-Monica Jackson's escalating comic looks. Her wardrobe is singled out as part of what makes the character's appearances so memorably funny.
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One roundup highlighted a wave of four- and five-star notices and a very high critic aggregate, matching the generally enthusiastic tenor across much of the coverage. Critical dissent centers more on plotting and tone than on the cast.
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Quick cuts are used deliberately for comic effect and were praised as part of the show's energetic technique. The editing helps reinforce the frantic rhythm rather than simply documenting it.
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One reviewer specifically praised the thriller for avoiding gratuitous spectacle, with emotional consequences carrying more weight than violence. The darker material stays secondary to character rather than becoming an endurance test.
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The show often moves at a breathless clip, which many reviewers found electric and addictive. Others reported a sluggish middle, overstimulation, or moments that needed more room to land.
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The visual package is bold, atmospheric, and often beautiful, shifting from Irish landscapes to neon and ominous imagery. That stylization is also divisive: some found it cartoonish or a case of style overwhelming substance.
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The foul-mouthed slang and dense local wisecracks are treated as part of the show's comic identity rather than a drawback. One reviewer recommends subtitles simply to catch every fast-moving line.
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Booker stands out as an enjoyably vivid threat within the oddball ensemble. Her menace, visual presence, and blunt attitude make the antagonist side of the caper memorable without losing the show's comic flavor.
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The larger action set pieces add momentum without having to carry the series. One reviewer specifically liked that the comedy and character clashes remain the main attraction even when the show gets bigger.
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Opinion splits sharply here. One critic saw familiar shows being reworked and rehashed, while another argued that McGee turns the genre mash-up into an exception through meta storytelling and a distinctive comic voice.
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Rewatch appeal is mixed. One reviewer thought a second viewing could reward the dense plotting, while another would not revisit it because the long comedy-thriller episodes are less casual than a short sitcom.
Cons
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Eight episodes is the most repeated structural complaint. Multiple reviewers independently suggest the story could lose one or two installments—or simply be six episodes—without sacrificing its core mystery or character work.
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The closing hook creates interest in another season, but it also frustrated one reviewer because renewal was uncertain. The tease works as a continuation device more than as a fully comforting stopping point.
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The 40- to 50-minute format gives the mystery room to expand, but one reviewer found that length less inviting for casual comedy rewatches. Shorter episodes would have made it easier to throw on again.
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Having all eight episodes available at once suits the bingeable story, but one reviewer worried that the drop-everything release could also make the series easy to miss. The concern is discoverability, not the viewing flow itself.
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The mystery is engaging but often asks a lot of the viewer. Some found the knots involving, while others needed notes or complained about identities, side plots, false leads, and late-season complications becoming confusing.
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The finale earns credit for a clever turn and for resolving major questions, but the reaction is far from unanimous. Other reviewers found it perplexing, tonally split, or less satisfying than the stronger start.
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The dramatic material can be intimate and emotionally sharp, especially when grief, memory, and friendship take precedence over spectacle. The main criticism is that the serious mystery sometimes sits awkwardly beside the show's zany default mode.
Cast & Creators
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CreatorMcGee's voice is the show's defining strength: reviewers repeatedly praise her rapid dialogue, dark humor, character insight, and distinctly Northern Irish perspective. Even critics who disliked the sprawling mystery often still admired her craft.
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RobynKeenan is frequently singled out as the trio's comic powerhouse, turning Robyn's exhaustion, fury, and biting delivery into a scene-stealing performance. Her work also gives the character real sadness beneath the swagger.
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DaraDunne brings Dara a dry, understated comic rhythm along with loneliness and emotional weight. Reviewers praised her physical expressiveness and the ease with which she shifts between jokes and heavier moments.
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SaoirseGallagher gives Saoirse flustered charm, comic precision, and enough vulnerability to expose the cracks beneath her successful surface. Reviewers consistently liked how she handles both dysfunction and emotional weight.
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FeeneyJackson makes an enormous impression in a relatively brief role, with several reviewers calling her wild, scene-stealing, memorable, or iconic. Her maximalist performance is divisive, though, and a few critics found the character grating or preposterous.
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BookerGallagher turns Booker into a memorable, stone-faced threat with enough eccentricity to fit the show's comic world. Reviewers call her a standout and respond strongly to the character's menace and determination.
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MargoFairley is repeatedly effective as an intimidating, unsettling presence around the mystery. The performance is praised, though one reviewer wished the character had been given more depth for such a pivotal role.
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teenage GretaCanning gives teenage Greta a presence that reviewers found palpable and ethereal, helping a character who is deliberately elusive in the present still register emotionally in the past.
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OwenScanlan gives Owen an effectively brooding, intimidating presence that keeps suspicion alive. His performance lands strongly even though some reviewers wanted the character's secrecy and backstory developed further.
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LiamHand makes Liam a likable romantic foil and grounded counterweight to the trio's chaos. One reviewer wanted a little more edge from him, while another called him a standout addition.
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ProducerFalconer's producing contribution receives unusually direct praise from Sinéad Keenan, who calls him brilliant and notes that his work rarely gets enough recognition.
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Casting DirectorStronge's casting work earns explicit praise for finding ideal younger versions of the leads. The flashback cast was considered strong enough that one reviewer often preferred those scenes.
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Young DaraAitken's Young Dara is part of a younger trio reviewers considered exceptionally well matched to the adult cast, strengthening the continuity between past and present.
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Young SaoirseFlain's Young Saoirse was praised as an impeccable casting choice, with the younger performance helping the flashbacks feel closely connected to the adult character.
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ActorMartin's skeptical convenience-store manager is exactly the kind of oddball supporting turn reviewers praised McGee for creating. One critic specifically cheered his repeat appearances.
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Young RobynLaird's Young Robyn earned praise as one of the carefully chosen younger counterparts whose resemblance and performance help the flashbacks feel immediate rather than detached.
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DirectorLennox's direction is singled out as captivating, helping the series balance lovely scenery, comic energy, and sinister material without flattening its visual personality.
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LucyFinlay makes the grouchy waitress Lucy memorable enough that one reviewer cheered whenever she returned. It is a small role with an unusually strong comic imprint.
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ActorO'Hanlon is included among a supporting cast praised as some of Ireland's best and brightest, adding another well-received comic presence to the ensemble.
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ActorBeamish is named among the strong Irish supporting performers who help give the series a deep, colorful ensemble beyond its central trio.