There’s a saying in Irish: “Is treise an dúil ná an bás.” It means “desire is stronger than death,” and nowhere is this truer than in the village of Kilteely. When their last pub neared its final breath, they weren’t just losing a place to drink, but the beating heart of their community.

The Pub That Refused to Die is a documentary about the 26 locals who took over their last pub with zero hospitality experience, and a little help from Heineken behind the scenes. This deeply human film is about loss, resilience, and the strange things people do when something they love is under threat. Brought to life by director Gar O’Rourke’s, it tells the story of a small village facing an unsettling question: what happens when the last place to gather disappears?