This review is part of Honi Soit’s continued coverage of the 71st Sydney Film Festival, 5-16 June. Read the rest of our reviews here.
Drug fuelled and energetic, Kneecap (2024) is a biopic that is billed as a ‘mostly true account’ of the rise of Belfast rap group Kneecap, yet it is the outrageous and difficult-to-believe moments that are ultimately the film’s strength.
Kneecap has emerged as an unexpected hit across the global film festival circuit, earning screenings at Cannes, becoming the first Irish-language film to win an audience award at Sundance, and was vying for a win in the Sydney Film Festival’s official competition.
Helmed by English-Irish director and journalist Rich Peppiatt, it follows Ceasefire Babies and drug dealer duo Liam Og O hAnnaidh and Naoise O Caireallain (adopting stage names of Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap later in the film) in post-Troubles Belfast. While running amok on the streets, they staunchly keep their Republican upbringing and hatred for Northern Ireland’s state police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), alive by speaking their native Irish tongue, much to the chagrin of the authorities who have actively worked to suppress it.
A chance meeting with music teacher and Irish civil rights activist JJ Ó Dochartaigh (Dj Próvaí) after a rave gone wrong ends with Dochartaigh’s discovery of the duo’s talent for writing provocative bars in Irish, channeling the underbelly of the Northern Irish drug, music and youth culture as well as the political sentiment in post-ceasefire Northern Ireland. This quickly leads to the formation of the three piece hip-hop group Kneecap, a name derived from the paramilitary tactic of shooting supposedly anti-social young people in the legs during the Troubles.
What ensues is an incendiary and hilarious charting of the real-life story of Kneecap’s rise from playing deadbeat pubs to becoming a symbol of a larger civil rights movement about the Irish language, clashing with Protestant opposition, censorship, paramilitary groups, violent cops and heavy drug comedowns.
I first came across Kneecap when they collaborated with fellow Irish musician and lyricist Grian Chatten, who has been an influential figure in a recent Irish music renaissance as the lead singer of post-punk band Fontaines DC. I was surprised then going into this film to find out that the Kneecap members had no previous acting experience, with their rebellious presence feeling right at home in their silver screen debut. The fact that they are playing themselves may have played a large part in this, and as one Letterboxd review pointed out that the group humorously labelled themselves as “method actors”, particularly when considering the heavy ketamine and other illicit substance consumption in the film.
The portrayal of their story in the face of media and police criticism also paralleled the livewire rise of groups like ONEFOUR closer to home, where police suppression and the stubborn pursuit of making music seems to have only driven their popularity. The film’s comedic exploration of the real consequences of the music is a particular highlight, such as how Dochartaigh’s scheme of an Irish flag balaclava to hide his identity as a schoolteacher fails to prevent an awkward confrontation with a clued-in school administration.
The supporting cast of the film are impressive in their own right , featuring Irish greats Simone Kirby as the widowed mother of one of the members and Michael Fassbender as the father of Móglaí Bap and an IRA figure in hiding. While it did feel like these two were hamstrung by limited screen time, it is an understandable sacrifice in order to place the personalities and anti-establishment antics of Kneecap centrestage.
Kneecap as a group have received criticism because of their consistently provocative and divisive political content since their inception, with the BBC reporting in February the group’s intention to undertake legal action against the UK government itself for blocking a £15,000 music grant citing their anti-British rhetoric. However the film and its accompanying press run has allowed the members to emphasise that they are not out to stoke violence or provoke sectarian confrontation despite politically charged songs like ‘Get Your Brits Out’ —the point made in the film is that this is an anti-MI5 message rather than anti-Protestant. Instead Kneecap’s focus comes across as platforming the Irish language, which Fassbender highlights in the mantra “every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom”, as well as writing music that reflects the raw lived experience of young people growing up in a post-Troubles Belfast.
One flaw I did see with this film is its nature as a biopic at a time when the group is still at its relative infancy; the true legacy of Kneecap on the Irish language and the longevity of their careers is perhaps a little preemptive. But at the same time, this only makes me more interested to see how the group evolves.It seems that I’m not alone in seeing this potential, with Sony purchasing much of the film’s global distribution rights following its positive reception at Sundance.
Kneecap’s (2024) explosive silver screen debut succeeds in showing the world why the band has gained such a cult following in Belfast and abroad, providing them an international platform that I suspect they won’t give up easily.
