After the success of Derry Girls, Lisa McGee returns with a new story set in the place she knows best. How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (2026) on Netflix follows three lifelong friends in their late thirties who are pulled back together after the sudden death of a former classmate. What starts as a trip to pay their respects soon turns into something else. Questions grow, old memories come back as the women begin to wonder if their friend’s death was really an accident. The eight-part series blends sharp humour with honest moments, and the comedy grows naturally from the way the friends talk to each other and the tension that still sits between them.
In this article, I will dive deep into the plotline of the Netflix miniseries How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (2026), explaining what happens throughout the show and what the ending signifies. Please note that this article contains spoilers, so reader discretion is advised.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 1 ‘The Wake’ Recap:
Who is Greta?
The series introduces us to Dara, Robyn and Saoirse running through the woods after escaping from some kind of facility. They reach an abandoned cabin where they notice a strange symbol on the wall and a girl sitting on the floor. The cabin later goes up in flames, and the story jumps ahead by twenty years. As adults, the three women are no longer close. Robyn is a stressed mother of three daughters and feels unsupported by her partner, Jim. She is also dealing with her youngest child entering the terrible twos earlier than expected.
Saoirse works as a writer on a British show called Murder Code, but her bosses want to shift focus away from murder and onto the lead character’s sex life. Dara, meanwhile, is unsure about her life and still lives with her sister Jamie and their mother. They reunite after learning that their old friend Greta has died. An email from her supposed sister Gaye sends them to Donegal. Tension rises during the trip, and after a car mishap, they meet Liam, a recovery driver who is also a local police officer. At Greta’s wake, strange details emerge, including a body without their shared tattoo. The episode ends with Greta revealed alive in a sunny place.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 2 ‘The Secret’ Recap:
Why is Greta hiding?
Episode 2 opens with an adult Greta running through the woods. A gunshot pulls us back to their school days, where Dara, Robyn, Saoirse and Greta are together and uneasy around a boy named Jason Meadows, known as the local creep. In the present, Saoirse wakes up in an ambulance after the crash. Owen has called for help and sits with them, warning that the roads are dangerous before leaving. Liam arrives as well, and Saoirse is clearly drawn to him, even though she is engaged. However, Robyn and Dara call her out for not wearing her ring.
Once back on the road, they nearly collide with another driver named Booker, who has a gun in her bag. The moment is tense, and it is later revealed that Greta is locked in Booker’s boot. After the wake, the women return home. Saoirse prepares for the BAFTAs and begins to suspect Greta sent the email under the name Gaye. She later confirms that Gaye Hearton is an anagram of Greta from her old notes. Dara and Robyn also experience strange visions and receive letters saying, “Please find me.” They agree to prove the body is not Greta and return to Donegal. Meanwhile, Owen meets Booker. The episode ends with Greta near a lighthouse, Owen burning a photo, and Jason Meadows revealed to be alive.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 3 ‘The Ghost’ Recap:
Who is really in the coffin?
A flashback shows what really happened with Jason. Greta ran from him, tried to fight back, and almost passed out during the struggle. She managed to stab him and ran to the cabin, where the others later joined her. Greta told them what happened to Jason. In the present, the women panic after seeing Jason alive. They cannot leave Knockdara because Hurricane Olivia is approaching, so they stay in the village. At the pub, they confront the man and learn he is Andrew, Jason’s son. He says his father was actually a journalist named Charles Sampson.
A week earlier, a woman called him and told him to come to town if he wanted answers. When he arrived, Greta was dead. The hotel is fully booked, so they stay in the attic. Greta remains at the lighthouse, and flashbacks show a classmate named Jodie recognizing her in Portugal. At dinner, Andrew shares his father’s notes, which include a cabin and a tattoo like theirs. The women hide their tattoos. Liam tells Saoirse he met Jodie before Greta’s death and mentions a bracelet. The women suspect Jodie is the body in the coffin. Booker later reveals Greta has changed her appearance to look like Jodie.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 4 ‘The Girl from Sagres’ Recap:
What is inside the box?
Episode 4 picks up as the women try to understand who Jodie Pryor was and how she ended up in the coffin. Owen claims Jodie never existed, which makes Liam suspicious. The women discover that Jodie had booked a flight to Portugal, leading them to the ‘Calmas Aguas Azuis Resort’. Robyn calls the resort pretending to be Jodie’s mother and learns staff were expecting to hear from her. At home, Robyn sees a message to Jim from someone named Jesse and fears he is having an affair. Jim explains Jesse is his boss and a promotion would require travel, which is why he stayed quiet.
Meanwhile, Dara learns from the undertaker that the body had burn marks. This pushes the group to travel to Portugal. At the resort, they search the staff quarters and find a messy room, a book called The Doll Complex, and the Heaven’s Veil symbol. Booker appears and claims to be Jodie’s mother. Greta, disguised as Jodie, is moved to a safehouse. A locked box meant for Jodie surfaces, along with a letter from Greta. Booker tries to retrieve it and traps the women on a yacht with explosives, but they escape. In the end, Booker boards their flight as a flight attendant while someone grabs Greta.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 5 ‘The Box’ Recap:
Does Liam survive the shooting?
Episode 5 goes back to 1997 and introduces Margo Heaney, a doctor who is testing two girls, Jodie and Greta. She chooses Greta and decides to adopt her. In the present, Greta wakes up in a new place and meets Feeney, who is now in charge. Booker has left. Feeney takes passport photos for Greta and says Booker raised her after her parents were killed. Greta is being sent toward a new life and wants to see her daughter, who does not know she exists.
On the plane, the others keep the locked box away from Booker. Saoirse misses a voicemail from Liam about The Doll Complex and Greta’s link to it. In Knockdara, Andrew keeps investigating Owen and later shares his findings with Liam, who begins to doubt the women. At a church, Booker calls them and demands the box. They knock her down and escape, but soon appear on the Late Late Show, where Saoirse causes a scene and figures out the box’s code. Inside is a Dictaphone. Liam arrives to help, but Booker confronts them with a gun. She shoots Liam and forces the women to drive her away.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 6 ‘Separate But Inseparable’ Recap:
Can Greta escape her past?
Episode 6 opens with Liam alive after being shot, though he is badly hurt and taken to hospital. Booker brings Dara, Robyn and Saoirse to the lighthouse and demands the Dictaphone, but Liam still has it. Feeney prepares Greta’s new identity under the name Grainne Marsh.
Flashbacks to 2003 reveal Greta lied about Charles, calling him a jealous boyfriend. In truth, he was a journalist who had been recording everything. Greta was one of the Heaven’s Veil children and had been taken in by Margo Heaney through an arrangement with her mother. When the girls found the cabin with the sigil, Greta was shaken. Charles later brought Jodie there to confront Greta. During a struggle over a Dictaphone, Jodie stabbed Charles. Greta told Jodie to run while she handled the aftermath. The girls later buried Charles and burned the cabin, but rain stopped the fire.
In the present, Booker learns Liam survived because the box stopped the bullet. At the lighthouse, Dara and Robyn discover Saoirse sent the letters to bring them back together. Booker steals the Dictaphone from the hospital. Liam and Andrew trace clues to Greta’s birth mother, Nora O’Hara. The episode ends with Greta attempting to escape.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 7 ‘Outlaws, Liars and Fallen Angels’ Recap:
Is Greta still alive?
Episode 7 begins three weeks earlier. Greta is taking photos outside her house with Owen and her daughter Maria. Her life looks settled, but she is still troubled by the past. Jodie suddenly appears and tells Greta that Nora is still in Heaven’s Veil and very ill. Jodie says she has been seeing Charles everywhere and believes it means she must tell Andrew the truth. Greta refuses. Jodie had already called Andrew and placed the Dictaphone in the box. During an argument, Greta pushes Jodie down the stairs, which leads to her death.
In the present, Dara, Robyn and Saoirse leave the lighthouse and return to town. Liam and Andrew look into Nora’s connection to the past. At the station, everyone shares difficult truths. It is revealed that after Jodie’s death, Owen and Margo hired Booker to protect Greta. Booker later meets her group, where their leader suggests killing Greta to protect their secrets. Meanwhile, Liam realizes Saoirse used details of Charles’ burial in her scripts. She admits Greta lied about the past, and she and Liam kiss. On the road, Robyn and Dara are shocked when they realize they have run over Greta.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Episode 8 ‘Anagnorisis’ Recap:
The finale episode begins with Robyn and Dara in shock after realizing they have run over Greta. They hurry to Saoirse and admit what happened. Saoirse leaves Liam behind after slashing his tyres, and the three women rush back to the road, only to find Greta missing. On the other hand, Greta is still alive. She reaches a petrol station, cleans her wound, and manages to get a ride toward Cork. Meanwhile, Booker meets Margo and Owen, and it becomes clear that Greta had been used as part of Margo’s larger plan.
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (2026) Ending Explained:
What happens to Greta?
Following a clue written on a note, the trio track down Greta’s hometown. Greta reaches her mother Nora, who is very ill. Nora finally admits that Greta started the fire at Heaven’s Veil while children were still inside. The story had been covered up, and Nora says she gave Greta up for money because she was afraid of her.
Liam later learns that Charles’ body was hidden inside another coffin. He walks away, warning Saoirse that the ending may not be what she expects. The ending of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast shows that at the ruins of Heaven’s Veil, Greta admits she and Jodie burned the place down without knowing children were inside. Booker turns against her organisation and lets Greta leave with Owen and Maria. The women part ways, and the story comes to a quiet end.
