FEATURE FILM ◆ IRELAND ◆ 2026 ◆ RUNTIME: [79 MINS]
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY CALVIN DOYLE
Trailer for Outer Heavens (2026)
Logline
When a young woman returns to a village, her presence unsettles two older men and draws buried memories back to the surface.
Synopsis
In a secluded part of Ireland, untouched by time, a group of older neighbours live quietly in the past. When a young woman arrives asking for their help, she disrupts their world and forces them to face what they have long avoided.
Directors Statement
When I started making Outer Heavens, I wasn’t trying to make a perfect film. I just knew that if I didn’t make one soon, I might never make one at all.
We shot the film over three days in the Irish midlands with no money, working with friends, instinct, and whatever we had available to us at the time. Over the course of making it, those limitations slowly became the identity of the film itself. The long takes, black-and-white imagery, stillness, and strange rhythm all came from trying to create a world through simplicity rather than scale.
I wanted the film to feel untethered in time, like a half-remembered place. The characters exist in a world that feels both deeply Irish and slightly outside reality. I’ve always been drawn to films that trust the audience and leave room for interpretation, where atmosphere and feeling matter as much as plot.
More than anything, Outer Heavens was made out of love, love for cinema, friendship, storytelling, and the urge to create something meaningful with very little.
Directors Bio
Calvin Doyle is an Irish writer and director. His debut feature, Outer Heavens, was made independently over three days with close collaborators, using a restrained approach shaped by long takes and minimal coverage.
His work focuses on atmosphere, performance, and open-ended storytelling, exploring themes of grief, humour, and memory.
Production Notes
Outer Heavens was written over the course of a month and shot in three days. The schedule was dictated by budget, but the decision to move quickly shaped the film in lasting ways.
There was no traditional screenplay. The film was built from structured scenes and a clear narrative arc, with fragments of dialogue rather than fixed exchanges. The performances developed in the moment.
Most scenes were captured in one take, occasionally two. This was partly practical, but also deliberate. Past experience showed that energy drops after repeated takes. Preserving that energy became central to the approach.
The production was tightly controlled where it needed to be. A detailed shot list and mapped schedule made the three-day shoot possible. Locations were chosen for proximity, and scenes were structured to be completed efficiently.
Within that structure, performance remained instinctive. Nothing was overworked.
Cast & Crew
Lead cast
Ryan Hoey – Captain Lou
Niamh Ryan – Palms
Calvin Doyle – Pa
Denis Haugh – Fran / The Wizard
Ali Heavey – Maura
Writer & Director – Calvin Doyle
Additional Writing & Dialogue – Ryan Hoey
Director of Photography – Conor English
Produced by Calvin Doyle, Ryan Hoey, Conor English, Ali Heavey & Alex Zhort
Editing – Calvin Doyle, Conor English & Ali Heavey
Original Score – Brian Murphy
Sound Design – Conor English
Production Design & Set Construction – Gary Doyle & Karen Doyle
Photography – Isaac Burke
Photography Assistant – Maya O’Connor
Assistant to Conor English – Saoirse Ryan
Behind-the-Scenes Filming – Eimear Hannon
Editing Consultant – Ali Heavey
FESTIVAL & PROGRAMMING ENQUIRIES
hello@calvindoyle.com