Film Review: Kneecap

We come from a very very serious place,” Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh or “Mo Chara” from Kneecap, the Irish Language Hip-Hop Trio from West Belfast, told Rolling Stone Magazine. “If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.” His sidekick, Naoise Ó Cairealláin (“Moglaí Bap”) agreed. “Sometimes when you’re left with an authority that has a lot more power or weaponry than you, all you have are your songs and stories. That’s something that lasts a long time in Ireland.”

For all the up-to-the-minute, right now, sensibility of Kneecap, the comedy-drama in which they play themselves and which traces their ferocious and hilarious rise as the cultural phenomenon, music as resistance and humor as survival tactic is the most ancient of all Irish superpowers. So along with sex, drugs, and rock and roll (hip-hop actually), Kneecap has the subtext of people finding a way to process generational trauma, to give peace a chance, and move toward a new Ireland where the island is prosperous and united.

They are the generation born of the Good Friday Agreement, and yet, Liam’s father, fictionalized as a former paramilitary on the run and played by Micheal Fassbender, fakes his death to escape prison and taught his son to speak Irish. In response, his mother (Simone Kirby) is suffering from agoraphobia and is confined to the house. Liam deals drugs and spray paints defiant slogans in Irish on the side of public Belfast buildings, along with Naoise, nicknamed Mo Chara, which means “my friend.”

When they’re arrested, Liam escapes but Naoise is taken in for interrogation. He refuses to speak English and an Irish language teacher, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, originally from Derry, is brought in to translate. Faced with a villainous female PSNI detective (Josie Walker), Naoise is defiant and JJ is intrigued. He saves the notebook Naoise was carrying, which contains lyrics in Irish that JJ thinks would be great hip-hop raps. He encourages them to record and Kneecap is born.

As DJ Provaí, wearing a tricolor balaclava so his school students won’t know his other life, JJ guides them through the steps of every musical biopic. A particularly exuberant journey from a few befuddled old men in pubs to sold out performances before wildly enthusiastic crowds. There are a lot of subplots: a love affair with a protestant girl (Jessica Reynolds), a constant pursuit by the PSNI villain, and run-ins with hypocritical anti-drug groups. At the crucial moment, when RTÉ radio refuses to play their music, it’s Naoise’s mother who breaks out of her isolation to lead the Belfast mammies in a crusade to save the day.

Energetically directed by Rich Peppiatt with hallucinogenic touches, the language, the nudity – and yes, the drugs – means Kneecap is a movie that isn’t for everyone. Yet under the surface pyrotechnics, I found the movie a very moving experience, full of hope and healing.

The film boards North and South helped fund the movie. Kneecap will be the official Irish entry into the 2024 Academy Awards.