Kneecap
(2024)
Dir: Rich Peppiatt
120 min.

Reviewed Aug. 8, 2024

NO SPOILERS AHEAD

Not having heard about ‘Kneecap’ previously, and being a person who never turns down the chance to see a movie in a theatre, a friend and I sat back, not knowing what we would see. We delighted in seeing this movie, set and shot entirely in Ireland, knowing nothing about it. And maybe that’s the way it should be seen, to overcome inflicted bias and a deflection of interest from its setting and language. I also suggest you don’t even see the trailer for the best experience, since it gives away a quite funny plot point.

Because this is a non-stop trip-hop hip-hop Irish twist on underdogs making it (kinda’) big and making a difference in their society against the spiteful and repressive occupation force of the Brits. Legislation from the ruling Brits made it illegal for the colonists to speak Irish as early as 1367. Less than 200 years later, the native tongue was banned in Parliament, then in the regions of Ulster under Brit rule.

Now we come to the setting and the society which serves as the background for this magnificent, lucid and hilarious movie. While not giving anything away, a trio consisting of 2 druggies and a school music teacher create an Irish-language hip-hop group, and let’s just say some of their shows are the direct result of whatever entheogen they’ve consumed. Hints about the power (unbeknownst to the trio) of social media, and even posters from a rag-tag group of vigilantes warning AGAINST the dangers of the band being used instead to raise the awareness and popularity OF the band are only 2 aspects of the dozens of luminous takes on society propelling this movie into next level brilliance.

While making fun of everything, including — at its best — itself, the story, music, humor, graphics, photography, acting, directing and editing are top notch. Based partially on a true story and acted out by the 3 main characters involved, with the help of a few others in the cast, including Michael Fassbender. With just the right amount of tension and plot twists thrown in, from the first frame to the last (stay for the credits) you will fall in love for 2 incredible hours.