{"id":463018,"date":"2026-02-09T03:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/463018\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T03:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:43:09","slug":"love-island-and-traitors-star-makes-movie-debut-in-charming-true-story-with-derry-girls-favourite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/463018\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Island and Traitors star makes movie debut in “charming” true story with Derry Girls favourite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Island<\/a> star Maura Higgins has landed her first movie role in a “feel-good road trip comedy”. Set in Omagh, Northern Ireland, The Spin<\/a> follows Dermot and Elvis, two music lovers struggling to keep their record shop above water. <\/p>\n

“Facing an unpaid rent bill and their vicious landlord Sadie, who’s eager to get them out of her building, the pair stumble across a deal too good to be true: rare, vintage records of blues legend Robert Johnson for sale in Cork at a knock-down price,” reads the synopsis.<\/p>\n

“If they can make it to the other end of Ireland in time, then maybe they could get the rare vinyl, and save the shop\u2026”<\/p>\n

With only two days to reach their destination, the pair embark on a “beautiful” but chaotic journey, and make some unlikely friends along the way. <\/p>\n

Directed by Michael Head, the plot is based on a semi-autobiographical short story by Omagh musician Mark McCausland, who also created the movie’s soundtrack. <\/p>\n

\"the<\/p>\n

Foxsake Films<\/p>\n

Related: UK film release dates<\/a><\/p>\n

Higgins<\/a>, who recently appeared on The Traitors<\/a> US, will be starring opposite leads Brenock O’Connor and Owen Colgan, as well as Derry Girls<\/a> actors Tara Lynne O’Neill and Leah O’Rourke. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, legendary Irish musicians Barry Devlin and Steve Wickham will make an appearance, alongside Amy McElhatton, Ian Toner and The Pussycat Dolls’ Kimberley Wyatt. <\/p>\n

\"maura<\/p>\n

Foxsake Films<\/p>\n

\"the<\/p>\n

Foxsake Films<\/p>\n

Related: The Traitors gift ideas and merch to buy now<\/a><\/p>\n

The Spin is set to be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 27 February. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have praised the movie for its “charming” and “goofy” plot, which they likened to romantic comedy High Fidelity. <\/p>\n

“Here is a goofy road movie comedy with some cheeky borrowings from Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity; it’s a bit broad, and the ending doesn’t exactly gel, but it’s likable all the same,” summarised The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Charming Irish road trip mixes High Fidelity with Hardy Bucks and leaves cynicism at the door,” echoed The Sunday Independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Film Ireland Magazine<\/a> added: “The lovely, touching moments celebrating friendship are underpinned by a wholesome message of encouragement in following your dreams and punctuated by brilliant comedic timing from our hapless protagonists.”<\/p>\n

The Spin will arrive in cinemas on 27 February in the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Taylor Swift, is here! Buy Taylor in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99.<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Divya is a freelance writer with experience in entertainment and lifestyle news. Described as a “telly addict” since childhood, Divya was able to translate her interests into a BJTC-accredited, Honours degree in Journalism and Media. After working in communications and marketing, Divya joined Digital Spy<\/a>\u00a0as a Freelance News Reporter. She has also written for various publications including\u00a0Metro<\/a>,\u00a0Asian World News\u00a0and\u00a0TwitCelebGossip;\u00a0as well as interviews, features and reviews on her own blog. Divya prides herself on her TV,\u00a0film<\/a>\u00a0and showbiz knowledge, always offering (not so) fun facts to her long-suffering friends and family. From\u00a0soaps<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0superheroes<\/a>, Divya is the go-to person for tailored recommendations\u00a0and up to date information.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Island star Maura Higgins has landed her first movie role in a “feel-good road trip comedy”. Set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,189181,189182,181355,189179,189180,782,189178,784,75,783,189177],"class_list":["post-463018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-collection-derry-girls","tag-collection-im-a-celebrity","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-collection-love-island","tag-collection-the-traitors","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-5b1e9a68-2e45-4536-9244-785ff6244d90","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-love-island-star-makes-movie-debut-with-derry-girls-actor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}