Kneecap (2024) – Film Review

Director: Rich Peppiatt
Cast: Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, Michael Fassbender
Certificate: 18

By David Reid

Kneecap is a semi-autobiographical film telling the story of a Northern Irish rap trio of the same name. Their musical- and filmic-USP is their promotion of the use of the Irish language. We are told that there are 80,000 native Irish speakers on the island of Ireland, 6,000 of whom live in Northern Ireland.

We follow our intrepid heroes from their schooldays. It is made clear, from the outset, that this is not a story about The Troubles. However, set within a Catholic community in Belfast, emerging from those difficult times, the background legacy of the conflict is ever present.

Bursting onto the big screen with the energy of youth, the two leads, Moglai Bap and Mo Chara, combine their love of music with the Irish language, with the help and guidance of their former teacher, JJ/DJ Provai, who provides an essential generational link for the narrative.

“Snappy”

A key decision for any new band is deciding on a name. For our male duo, they want this to be representative of Belfast – in their view a city famous for George Best and kneecapping – a practice favoured by the Provisional IRA, during The Troubles, to punish wrongdoers within their community.

As they seek to create music and share it with the world, they are beset with not only the same difficulties anywhere for new musicians, such as funding and access to recording, but barriers presented by the forces of law and order and with the former paramilitary role seemingly replaced by a local group calling itself the Radical Republicans Against Drugs.

A chance encounter, by Mo Chara, with a literally bright-orange flute band, reminds us that the Protestant community are also an ever present vested party in proceedings. Matters are further complicated by Michael Fassbender, who brings some Hollywood heft in a gritty performance as Arlo, Moglai’s father – a notorious hardliner from back in the day. In a strong performance, his wife, Dolores, is played by well-established Irish actress, Simone Kirby.

Debut feature-length writer/director, Rich Pepiatt ensures that the dialogue is snappy and the action keeps moving, not least through regular chase sequences. Drug use, regular and strong bad language and romance reflect the real, or perhaps, at times, imagined lifestyle of Kneecap.

“Heart of gold”

The script has a strong focus upon humour, especially Irish humour. Whilst some of the references may escape a viewer unfamiliar with the history of the province, this is a very funny film. It has a heart of gold, with a few key plot twists thrown in.

Given all of this, the movie has, perhaps inevitably, been compared with Eminem’s 8 Mile and Trainspotting. Whilst this is understandable, for this reviewer, it has more in common with another Irish export, The Young Offenders. The humour, the likeability of the characters and the humanity within this film, gives it a much wider appeal than the initial premise might suggest.

You can see why this film achieved the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award earlier this year and why the band are going from strength to strength, not least at the recent Leeds Festival. This will, no doubt, have greatly assisted the movie’s progress in gaining a mainstream cinema release. Now that you’ve read the description, can you imagine the initial pitch for this heart-warming film? Me neither – and I’ve seen it!