SUNDANCE 2024: ‘Kneecap’ Celebrates Irish Heritage

Resistance starts with the people. In North Ireland, those people were a musical trio known as Kneecap. A Group who fought for the right for the Irish language, otherwise known as Gaelic or Gaelige, to be officially recognized. Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap is a film that fictionalizes the origins of the group. This results in a propulsive tribute to Irish heritage, music, and the right not to be the perfect representation of one’s identity.

2019. West Belfast. Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh and Naoise “Móglaí Bap” Ó Cairealláin (playing themselves) live life in the fast lane. Booze, drugs, rapping, and distaste for the British government is all they know. Naoise takes care of his mother (Simone Kirby) while his father (Michael Fassbender) is on the run from the law. Liam takes solace in a situationship with the English-born Georgia (Jessica Reynolds).

A chance encounter leads them to school teacher JJ Ó Dochartaigh (also playing himself), who displays a hidden talent of music production. Together, Liam, Naoise, and JJ donning the names Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí become the hip-hop group Kneecap. In the middle of the impending debate around the Irish Language Act, the three’s drug-inspired, politically charged music makes them a hot-button issue in and of themselves, earning the ire of local Detective Ellis (Josie Walker).

Kneecap feels like adrenaline right to the veins. Rich Peppiatt’s energetic direction, along with the cinematography from Ryan Kerranghan and a backlog of thumping needle drops (from Kneecap and otherwise), makes the story of an unlikely partnership feel like a wild club party. Whether it’s running from the cops or performing, editors Julian Urichs and Chris Gill maintain an infectious tempo. Importantly, Peppiatt doesn’t skip on telling the story in a warts-and-all honest fashion. Liam, Naoise, and later JJ were all drug users. That becomes an essential part of their music that Kneecap does not demonize. An early sequence where the three lay down a track together for the first time feels like being invited to a wild party.

They’re all likable characters. Liam and Naoise are affable street kids, getting into shenanigans at every turn. Meanwhile, JJ unleashes a wilder side he’s suppressed for too long. Instead of a mid-life crisis, though, it’s a transformation into a true self. A self that has been clawing at the door to get out. What’s remarkable is how Kneecap tracks their journey from three dudes making music in a garage together to political activists, whether they like it or not.

Rich Peppiatt pulls the audience’s eyes wide open to the tensions between the British and the Irish. Fassbender’s character is a tragic one, portrayed as too cowardly to face the consequences for the cause he fights for. Moreover, by simply being themselves, Kneecap draws attention from all over. To some, their music is nothing but vacuous drug-glorifying noise that hurts the movement of Irish Republicanism. To others, simply rapping in their native language does more than most for the fight for the Irish right to have their language recognized.

The most engaging element of Kneecap is its statement on who gets to represent groups of people. The trio, except for maybe JJ, are far from the perfect representation. They’re the kind of so-called “thugs” the public would rather sleep under the rug. But that’s why they deserve to have their voice heard. They are the common folk, the ones that don’t fit a narrative. That’s the exact reason they connect with their audience, and the act of simply putting on a concert where they rap in Gaelic and pay lip service to the issues plaguing their community unsettles the foundation.

Kneecap is a chronicle of a particular group and a rallying cry all in one. Rich Peppiatt and the subjects of his film give a firm middle finger to the stuffy establishment. They raise up the true voice of Belfast and other parts of Ireland in a kinetic rager of a movie. Whether you’re captivated by the music, the trio’s antics, or the message at the center of it, Kneecap is sure to get audiences moving.

Kneecap screened of the NEXT section of Sundance 2024 and was awarded the Audience Award for its area.