Kneecap

There are plenty of stories out there about the beginning of a music group and that moment when they find their audience. For the most part, that is done in documentary form, but sometimes it can be presented in narrative form, which can also lead to finding the right beat. That is what director Rich Peppiatt and the group Kneecap decided to do, and the result is one of the more entertaining and educational movies you will see this year.

It’s 2017, and the people in Belfast, Northern Ireland, are about to decide wether to make the Irish language the official language of the region. Not everyone wants that, though, and tension is a little high in the area. Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara are brothers who do everything together, including selling drugs. At a rave-like event, the cops start to shut it down, and Mo Chara stays while his brother gets away with the merchandise, leaving him to get arrested by the cops. At the station, Mo Chara pretends not to be able to speak the Queen’s language and asks for an interpreter. He gets a teacher, who kind of takes a shine to Chara, even taking his notebook which could get him in trouble and hiding it from the police. The teacher goes back to his life, but fate has other plans for him, as he soon runs into Chara once again and compliments his lyrics that he has written. It turns out the teacher has a homemade studio, so Chara and Móglaí Bap start to go and record a track, which turns out pretty good. The teacher becomes their DJ and goes by DJ Prócai, who, because of his day job, prefers to remain anonymous, as the legend of Kneecap starts to grow. Where they played for no one at first, their crowds got bigger and bigger, as they live by the mantra “Every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom.”

Written by Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap tells the story of a band that rises through a movement and gains added street cred because the band portrays themselves in the film. Bap and Chara may not look like talented rappers, but they also don’t look like actors, and they do a stand-up job at both, as the music has a swagger that is always present when it plays. It is all of that which gives Kneecap a rebellious spirit of cultural pride that never has a suffocating presence.

Kneecap doesn’t always play it safe and takes some risks thematically, but in the way it is told, the payoff is funny and at times even heartwarming. The energy that the trio brings is infectious and will likely resonate with anyone who feels unrecognized, as Kneecap’s music is filled with bangers, making the movie highly entertaining. For all that is right with Kneecap, it is not without its flaws, which include what feels like a cliché “rise to fame” story, as some things feel almost constructed to fit the narrative. Even with all that said, Kneecap provides a unique experience whose attitude and energy make it hard not to get into. It is bold and really pulls no punches on the issues it is addressing, as this is one film that you will want to both see and hear.