Film Review: KNEECAP (2024): Rich Peppiatt’s Wild Film Balances Politics with a Character-Driven Plot and Intriguing Antics

Kneecap Review

Kneecap (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Rich Peppiatt, written by Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and Rich Peppiatt and starring Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds, Simone Kirby, Michael Fassbender, Cathal Mercer, Donagh Deeney, Lalor Roddy and Gerry Adams.

For a movie about hip-hop, Kneecap is greatly intriguing and due to the themes it portrays, pretty political too. Directed with great style by Rich Peppiatt, the movie focuses on three guys who put together a hip-hop group which is centered in Belfast. Kneecap is loud, in your face and flat-out entertaining. It works just as well when it focuses on the women in the film as it does its men and offers a look at a piece of history that is not only entertaining but likely to inspire audiences to take a stance on the issues it so vividly portrays.

Liam (“Mo Chara”) and Naoise (Móglaí Bap) are the main characters here and they’re a couple of young rebellious guys who, as kids, were shown the way to speak by Naoise’s IRA focused dad, Arlo (the great Michael Fassbender). But, Arlo disappeared and ended up faking his death in order to avoid penalties from the British. Because the fine actor, Fassbender, plays the part of Arlo, one can probably guess he may pop up again later in the film but one may also forget his role by the time it’s returned to since it’s portrayed early on in the picture. When it resurfaces later on, it comes at a pivotal point in the movie.

The perfectly cast Simone Kirby serves as Dolores, Naoise’s mom, who is a bit more down-to-earth than Arlo but not necessarily in a positive way. When Liam gets nabbed by the cops for drugs, he decides he doesn’t want to speak English to Detective Ellis (the superb Josie Walker). It becomes clear that Ellis means business but Liam puts up a bit of a struggle. Soon, JJ (DJ Próvaí), an educator, pops up at the jail as a translator for the police and helps Liam save face a bit.

JJ is married to Caitlin (Fionnuala Flaherty) and the two seem to have some things in common except JJ has more passion to pursue things out of the ordinary. Caitlin is more traditional in some of her endeavors. When JJ talks to Liam and Naoise, JJ inspires them to formulate the group referred to in the film’s title, Kneecap. And, yes that name has great political significance as one would expect it to.

Georgia, the love interest for Liam, is beautifully played by Jessica Reynolds. There are moments in the film filled with zaniness and that includes some raunchy sex scenes in a couple of key intervals throughout. The sex is fueled by the characters’ passions. Reynolds and Mo Chara have a fine rapport on-screen that manifests itself in several memorable ways, not the least of which is a resolve that strays from the norm for movies like this. But, because this is centered in reality, they don’t typically make movies like this and that makes it all the more refreshing in the long run.

JJ disguises himself with a face mask while performing with his two musical hip-hop partners in crime. You could say that these guys are way over their heads in hot water and could soon be in pretty deep given the political climate that existed during the time the film is initially set. Caitlin is trying to work towards her own respective goals regarding the Irish language but would also not be happy with JJ’s involvement in the group or would she? You don’t have to guess too hard where JJ and Caitlin’s relationship is heading if you pay attention early on.

The drugs at the performances that Kneecap puts on ultimately creates a real problem for the group. While Detective Ellis has some brutality to her methods of trying to maintain justice, the members of Kneecap are willing to put up a fight for what they believe in, regardless of the outcome.

“Radical Republicans Against Drugs” becomes a barrier to Kneecap’s goals to achieve success. Kneecap’s hard work is thwarted by RRAD and Detective Ellis. Dolores and Arlo, as supportive parents of Naoise, will see to it that their own brand of justice is served to allow the boys to do what they’re going to do and live their lives unafraid of the consequences of their actions despite the beatings they may take along the way.

Kneecap is a fast-pumping movie. Liam and Georgia get to know one another in some fine scenes but there could have been more screen-time between them given the intriguing nature of their characters. Still, the audience is not asked to be a judge or jury of Kneecap’s actions and the filmmakers simply make the viewer aware of their attempts to achieve a fair way to utilize their freedom of expression rights that they may or may not yet have.

The cast is all uniformly top-notch. Fassbender doesn’t hit a false note and makes some interesting character choices in the picture (which could have been based on truth) that play like gangbusters as cinematic plot developments. The rest of the cast is equally commendable to the always reliable Fassbender.

Hip-hop isn’t my favorite type of music but some of the songs here are nevertheless catchy whether you can understand the nature of the lyrics or not. Mo Chara’s part is the most likable of all the characters here but the movie doesn’t care whether you admire the leads or not. It plays almost like real-life with the reasoning behind why the characters behave as they do and are as rebellious as they are. The movie passes no judgments. Instead, it asks the audience whether these guys deserve a shot to be expressive even if it means ruffling some serious feathers along the way.

Kneecap gets too heavy-handed at times and although that drama is necessary to tell the story, perhaps some of the comic brilliance in the opening stages of the movie could have been heightened through crisper dialogue and more time with female characters like Dolores and Georgia. The men are fighting for the bigger picture through their actions but, surprisingly, the women in this movie sometimes have more substance than the male characters, for whatever reason.

This film proves the fight for artistic freedom (and expressive ways to achieve great musical art) usually comes at a great cost. Politically, the movie makes more than a perfect amount of sense but it’s the characters (who are inspired by the real members of Kneecap and played by them) who ultimately drive home the politics in a way that audiences will generally find this movie quite satisfying overall.

Rating: 7.5/10

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