Kneecap is a biopic about an Irish hip-hop trio from West Belfast Ireland. If you said to me, I would have watched a movie like this. I would have told you to go to hell; it doesn’t make sense. In fact, though, it does make sense. This is a real band, and they have a couple of albums. They sing about their country, their language, war, and other things that affect Irish youth in Belfast, Ireland. I was pleasantly surprised by this music biopic.

Mo Chara (Liam Og) and Moglai Bap (Naoise O` Caireallain) are two young men in Belfast, West Ireland, who are not the best humans in their community. They tend to get in trouble a lot. They don’t do well in school, and they tend to have run-ins with the local authorities in their town. When they come into contact with a teacher, JJ, or DJ Provai,  who needs a change in his own life, a marriage is made in heaven as they start a hip-hop rap group to give themselves and their community something to believe in through their music.

This musical biopic uses unconventional methods to tell its story. In the context of the story, they make complete sense. The first is the director, Rich Peppiatt, who uses the native language of these people, Gealic, as the main language of the film. For viewers, watching there are subtitles because there is no way anybody who doesn’t know this language will understand what anybody is saying.  The second is that rap music is in English, so those songs, one of which is RIGHTS” a catchy song, are understandable. I’m not a fan of rap music, but I did like the music. The dichotomy of these two things is interesting to me because one is most people can’t understand and the other they can.

The plot of the story is one I wasn’t that familiar with, but once I saw the film, I was all in on this story. Ireland, as a country, has been going through a lot regarding the occupation of the country by England, and changing their language was part of that. As an Irish American, I can relate in a way to their struggle, but I’ll never truly be able to put myself in their shoes because of their struggle. England persecuted them in a lot of ways, such as religion, language, and so forth. It can have been an easy place to live for young people growing up there.

One of the best parts of the movie is that there is a cameo of a big-name actor who plays the father of one of the band members. He comes and goes as the movie progresses. He’s not a wasted character. He gives his son some well-needed advice, even though he’s not always around. The fact that the filmmakers got him was so cool for them. He added a nice aspect to this musical biopic I didn’t expect.  Also, a girlfriend, Georgia, in the movie played by Jessica Reynolds, was pretty good. She added a distraction for  Mo Chara’s character. The supporting cast as a whole was pretty good.

Kneecap is a musical biopic that I didn’t know I needed until I saw it. It has significance to me because of where it takes place, Ireland. The three lead actors who played the main characters were all pretty good. I engaged with their various story points very well. I felt for what they were going through and how they eventually used their frustrations for their music. The music was good and catchy, considering I’m not a fan of rap or hijop music. 

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen