Some movies are Irish. “Kneecap” is Ireland. From its self-conscious open blasting viewers in the face with images from the country’s fabled Troubles to its raucous encore, this film intends to demolish standard Irish imagery with a sonic blowtorch. Writer-director Rich Peppiatt energetically captures the state of a nation still disagreeing with itself after 1998’s Good Friday Agreement. At a moment in which nationalism is on the rise across the globe as a tool of domination and subjugation, it’s refreshing to see a tale focused on the ideology’s unifying potential to save an endangered heritage.
READ MORE: Sundance 2024: The 23 Most Anticipated Movies To Watch
The film’s subject, a trio of rappers who call themselves Kneecap (all playing themselves in this fictionalization of their founding), makes for an unlikely set of culture warriors. The medium is the message in their music as they press the case for the continued vitality of the endangered Irish language as it borders on obsolescence. JJ Ó Dochartaigh learns this personally and painfully in his capacity as a school instructor at the start of “Kneecap.” Teaching the tongue involves using archaic textbooks that instruct students how to talk about plowing poop in a field. It’s not exactly the kind of example that instills faith that Irish still has contemporary relevance.
JJ gets quite the crash course in how to revitalize the language when he’s called to do some translation at the local police station for a young hooligan who defiantly refuses to speak English. He’s inexorably drawn into the orbit of Naoise Ó Cairealláin and Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, two pals as keen on ketamine as they are on rebelling against British hegemony. They’re enfant terribles among the “ceasefire babies,” imbuing the moment after their country’s moment with a restless rage (and a rollicking desire to have a good time).
JJ, Naoise, and Liam Óg find a meeting ground for their common cause in music, using the Irish language over hip-hop beats to invigorate its reputation. At the same time, the country of Northern Ireland weighed whether to grant language rights to the Irish in the late 2010s, similar to what Scotland gives to the Scottish. Kneecap, the group, rose in popularity to meet—and make—the moment. “Kneecap” the film captures both the vibrance of their performances and the vitality of the political message embedded in their language and lyrics.
Peppiatt’s direction captures the restless energy that fuels the rappers, emboldens their fans, and enrages the authorities. Whether onstage as DJ Próvaí (JJ), Móglaí Bap (Naoise), and Mo Chara (Liam Óg) or just bro-ing out, an eclectic and energetic toolkit of cinematic techniques matches their artistry. It’s the kind of work that only feels possible coming from a first-time fiction filmmaker. “Kneecap” feels beholden to no style, only its erratic and ecstatic subjects. Rough edges and raw nerves might not hold up to scrutiny, but they sure feel like a tribute to Kneecap themselves in the thrill of the moment.
Though the film hews to the true-life developments in the group’s recent formation, “Kneecap” goes beyond docudrama and hollow hagiography. Each of the three Kneecap members deals with drama that reflects the complexity of the conflict into which they wade. Naoise grapples with the generational differences in the Irish republican cause as embodied by his father, Arlo (Michael Fassbender, in a clever bit of meta casting that nods to his breakout role as Bobby Sands in “Hunger”). The great attraction Liam Óg toward his girlfriend Georgia (Jessica Reynolds) runs headfirst into her latent loyalty to Britain, fed no doubt by her mother Detective Ellis (Josie Walker) being the very officer devoted to the group’s destruction. Meanwhile, JJ suffers an all-out identity crisis as he struggles to integrate his newfound activism with the sleepier elements of his quiet life.
There comes a point in “Kneecap,” however, where Peppiatt seems to simply run out of story. It’s remarkable how much the back half of the film can coast on previously generated goodwill and good vibes. The thrill of Kneecap in their element goes a long way. Still, Peppiatt always augments their magnetism by ensuring that he captures the resonance of their railing against censorship and silencing. He never takes for granted that a global audience innately understands this local Belfast phenomenon. The film captures the what of Kneecap but also the why, which makes all the difference.
The late critic Gene Siskel had a rule for evaluating movies about authors that’s easy to extrapolate for musicians. Does this movie about a famous musician make you want to listen to music? If yes, then the film succeeds. Chalk up a win for “Kneecap,” then, based on my recent Spotify listening data alone. [B]
Follow along for all our coverage of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.