Irish–filmed shows and movies to watch out for this year

Bodkin

New on Netflix this month, Bodkin stars Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen, and Robyn Cara as a trio of podcasters who set out to investigate mysterious disappearances from decades earlier. A fictional story set in a fictional Irish town, it has certain similarities to the West Cork series that surged in popularity a couple of years ago, but executive producer Alex Metcalf is keen to emphasise that this story is not rooted in truth. “We worked very hard to find something that is in no way adjacent to a real true crime story. The fictionality of it was very deliberate,” he told Netflix recently. If all of that isn’t intriguing enough, it’s also produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s company, Higher Ground production, with the former US President and First Lady acting as executive producers on the series too. Filming took place in Rebel County during the summer of 2022.

Irish Wish

According to IMAGE.ie’s own Edaein O’Connell, Irish Wish is “demented trash”… that doesn’t mean we didn’t lap every deranged second of it up though. For those of you who haven’t watched it yet, Lindsay Lohan plays Maddie Kelly, a book editor whose dream man is days away from marrying her best friend. She puts her feelings aside to be a bridesmaid at their big day in Ireland but then a spontaneous wish made on an ancient stone magically alters her fate and well, I’m sure you can guess what happens next. You know what you’re getting with this one but lean into it. Recognisable Irish locations featured throughout include Lough Tay in Co. Wicklow, Killruddery House, the Powerscourt Distillery and of course the Cliffs of Moher.

Abigail

One of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 rising talents, Irish actor Alisha Weir has big things on the horizon and with yet another feature film under her belt, it’s no surprise. Her latest project sees her star as Abigail, the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure. Kidnapped by a group of would-be criminals, all they have to do is watch her overnight to collect the $50 million ransom… but this is no normal little girl. Think Twilight with tutus. Filming predominantly took place in Ireland at the Guinness Manor in Dublin, with some shots taken in Ardmore Studios and the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

Bad Sisters 2

Season two of Bad Sisters wrapped earlier this year and while we have little by way of plot, Eve Hewson did describe it as “a thrill” – so lots to look forward to, no doubt. Season one of Sharon Horgan’s darkly comedic murder mystery introduced us to the tight-knit Garvey sisters, bound together by the premature deaths of the parents and the promises they made to always protect one another. Speaking to IMAGE at the IFTAs, Horgan said, “it’s actually really, really hard to talk about because I’ll give the game away. There’s a very specific hook but I sort of said it earlier that you can’t just kill a man and then expect your life to continue on as usual so there’s fallout from that and there’s just more sisters. There’s a lot more sisters. And there’s more Fergal Loftus – he comes back in a big way!” Co-starring Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Hewson and Horgan too, we can’t wait to see how the story pans out. According to local reports, the cast were spotted filming in Donabate, Rush and Howth.

Land of Saints and Sinners

Liam Neeson, Ciarán Hinds, Colm Meaney, Kerry Condon and Sarah Greene all star in this new Netflix thriller. Set in a remote Irish village in the 1970s, it follows Finbar Murphy (Neeson), a newly retired assassin who finds himself drawn into a lethal game of cat and mouse with a trio of vengeful terrorists. Filmed mainly near Glencolumbcille in Co Donegal, Neeson told reporters, “(Donegal’s) rugged topography added something to the story of the turbulence of the 70s. Going to work was an absolute joy.”

Conan O’Brien Must Go

Conan O’Brien is just one of many celebrities spotted gallivanting around Ireland in recent months, though unlike Nick Jonas who appears to be on a culinary tour of the capital, O’Brien was here to film his new show Conan O’Brien Must Go. The four-part series starts off in Norway with O’Brien finishing with a visit to Ireland, his ancestral home. Lynn Ruane schools him on Dublin slang before he meets with the Three Tenors and takes a spin out to Obama Plaza, where he unveils his own mock statue. He also calls out to the Ros na Rún set and makes a cameo as a balloon delivery man. A man of many talents.

That They May Face The Rising Sun

Already making significant waves at the box office – it’s made over €500,000 after only three weeks in cinemas – That They May Face The Rising Sun is the most successful Irish film release since the Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin. Getting rave reviews at home and abroad, the film is an adaptation of the final novel from John McGahern and stars Barry Ward and Anna Bederke as Joe and Kate Ruttledge, who have returned from London to live and work among the small, close-knit community near to where Joe grew up. Now deeply embedded in life around the lake, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters around them unfolds through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons as this enclosed world transforms into an everywhere. “We shot in Co Galway, along the Mayo border, a beautiful part of the world. McGahern’s world is very much Leitrim, but the locations we found were in Connemara, and you can see why when you watch the movie. Because the story is set in a time before mass rural electrification in Ireland, you have to find a place where you can point the camera into a big wide vista and not have any telegraph poles. And that’s not easy,” Ward told the Irish Independent.

Photography by Apple TV.