Lifelong pals Dermot and Elvis are quirky, music-loving Tyrone boys who are down on their luck. In a bid to save their much-loved record shop, they embark on a road trip from Omagh to Cork to collect a box of priceless records, meeting an eclectic mix of characters along the way.
The Spin is a life-affirming music-themed comedy celebrating friendship and promising to raise a smile and warm your heart.
“Bedlam around me right now…”
That’s how producer Ismail Ismail greets me when our call connects—flanked by almost the entire creative brain-trust behind The Spin. They’ve literally wrapped filming a new film thirty seconds earlier, but the energy on my screen feels less exhausted and more sugar-rush. It’s the exact vibe the movie gives off: scrappy, soulful, and impossible not to root for.
Meet the merry band
- DIRECTOR Michael Head
- EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Ismail Ismail
- PRODUCER Jake Jacovides
- STORY Mark McCausland
- SCREENPLAY Colin Broderick
- PHOTOGRAPHY Sebastian Cort
- EDITOR Aideen Johnston
- PRODUCTION DESIGN Paul Savulescu
- MUSIC Mark McCausland
- MAIN CAST Owen Colgan, Brenock O’Connor, Tara Lynne O’Neill
It’s clear The Spin was built on camaraderie first, contracts second.
From Boneyard notes to big-screen story
Mark’s weekly column “Notes from the Boneyard” and a hard-drive full of soundtrack-for-films-that-didn’t-exist demos were the seeds. “Someone told me the music belonged in a movie that hadn’t been made yet,” he shrugs. A year later that “missing movie” had a script—stitched together from his Boneyard musings and written around songs that already pulsed with cinematic feeling.
Director Michael admits he could tell the script was special—but also felt certain bits “weren’t quite comfortable” for the actors. Solution? Lean into improv. He estimates 60–70 percent of what ended up on screen sprouted spontaneously once cameras rolled. “As long as we stayed true to the heart and soul, I let them off the leash,” he says. The result? Dialog that crackles like pub banter and emotional beats that feel discovered rather than rehearsed.
Casting lightning in a bottle
Owen Colgan was literally written into the script before page one. Brennock O’Connor came aboard soon after, and Michael saw their spark immediately. “Buddy-comedy chemistry is hard,” I note. Michael grins: “Sometimes it’s luck—but you’ve still got to trust your luck. These two could read a shopping list and you’d believe they’ve known each other since primary school.”
Northern Ireland: the film’s fifth star ⭐
Shot across the rural north, The Spin uses its landscape the way most road movies use a vintage car. That’s partly because their actual hero-car barely drove (out of sixteen planned days, it worked “about six-and-a-half minutes”). Forced to rethink, the crew framed County Tyrone’s rolling hills, wind-gnarled cliffs, and moody skies as narrative muscle.
“We decided to lean into what we had—the scenery—and treat the land as a character,” the cinematographer explains. Weather tantrums—sun, hail, torrential rain, all within two hours—only added texture. Standout shot? A lone figure named Dallas cresting a hill, coat whipping in the gale, horizon stretching forever. It’s breathtaking, even through my laptop screen.
The soundtrack that steers the story
Much of the music pre-dated the screenplay; plenty more was written mid-shoot or even during the edit suite. One hair-raising chase sequence started with Michael handing Mark a reference track: “I need something that’s equal parts ridiculous and heartfelt.” Mark disappeared and came back with a cue that nails the tone so perfectly you can’t imagine the scene without it.
Music isn’t just background here—it pushes the plot forward, punctuates jokes, and slips subtext under your skin. If The Commitments ranks in your personal top-ten (guilty!), The Spin scratches that same itch.
Easter eggs, horses, and a possible American detour
The final shots tease a sequel: our troubadour Elvis heads stateside to record an album, only for everything (predictably) to unravel. The dream follow-up, Michael hints, is a reverse road-trip—Ireland comes to America—complete with a stubborn horse the lads somehow acquire. Consider me pre-sold.
What they hope you’ll feel
“Happiness in ordinary lives,” Mark says simply. “These are small-town guys finding their own version of success. That can be enough.”
Michael, an Englishman keenly aware of Ireland’s cinematic baggage, adds:
“I wanted a story that isn’t about the Troubles. Something full of community and Irish spirit that just… makes you smile. Life’s a bit poxy; if our film brightens ten minutes of it, job done.”
Dallas-actor Kimberly echoes that sentiment, calling the shoot “special” and the countryside “unlike anywhere I’ve ever filmed.”
The on-set proposal (yes, really)
First AD Andrew wins Best Behind-the-Scenes Moment: he secretly learned the film’s main song, hired a cellist, and proposed in front of the entire cast and crew. One take, one very surprised fiancée, and a memory that cements The Spin as more than just a job for everyone involved.
Curtain call…and New York City
The film lands at the New York City Independent Film Festival this year, with most of the team hopping the pond to attend. If you’re festival-bound, add The Spin to your must-see list. Expect belly laughs, toe-tapping tunes, sweeping Irish vistas, and an afterglow that lingers like the last chord of a gig you didn’t want to end.
Because sometimes all we need is proof that ordinary dreams, messy journeys, and good-hearted music can spin into something extraordinary. And in The Spin, they absolutely do. I give this movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
