One night, Liam is arrested at a drug-laden party. He outrages the police with his refusal to speak English, insisting he can only communicate in Irish. JJ Ó Dochartaigh, a music teacher at an Irish-language immersion school, is summoned to serve as an interpreter during Liam's interrogation. He helps Liam avoid charges. He also hides a notebook of Liam's that he realises has drugs hidden in it, by slipping it into his pocket.
JJ notices that the notebook contains satirical verses written in Irish and decides to set them to music as rap lyrics. He approaches Liam and Naoise with the idea of forming an Irish-language hip-hop group, claiming that the music would be a way to bring the Irish language to Millennials and Generation Z. Meanwhile, Liam begins a relationship with a Protestant girl named Georgia. Liam names the group "Kneecap", after the infamous punitive torture technique common in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
The trio create a track together during an all-night, drug-fueled recording session. They start performing live, and their music draws crowds. JJ fears the damage to his teaching career that might result from a public connection with Kneecap's confrontational and blatantly political music, and so performs as the anonymous "DJ Próvaí", wearing an Irish tricolour balaclava to hide his face during gigs. He also conceals his involvement in the band from his girlfriend Caitlin, who is heavily involved in the campaign for an Irish Language Act that would officially recognise the Irish language in Northern Ireland.
As Kneecap grow in popularity, they face controversy for promoting anti-social behaviour and outspoken republicanism in their lyrics. A dissident republican organisation calling themselves "Radical Republicans Against Drugs" (RRAD) threaten and attack Liam and Naoise. The garage containing Kneecap's recording studio and their recorded music is bombed, and the group believe RRAD is responsible.
With a tight deadline to produce a new track for RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, the group break into the music department of the school where JJ works and record a song overnight using the equipment there. The song is initially banned from the radio due to its lyrical content, but after Dolores organises a protest campaign, the song is played on air and becomes a hit. With his identity as DJ Próvaí now public, JJ is fired from his teaching job, and Caitlin breaks up with him. With little left to lose, after some hesitation, JJ decides to remain a part of Kneecap, despite having announced that he was quitting.
At a major gig, Kneecap publicly humiliate RRAD by playing an audio recording of its members demanding that Liam and Naoise turn in drug money over to them. Enraged, an RRAD member in the crowd fires a gun and, in the ensuing chaos, Liam is apprehended by the police and Naoise is captured by the RRAD. Police Service of Northern Ireland Detective Ellis, an Ulster Loyalist and Georgia's aunt, viciously beats Liam before revealing that she arranged for the studio to be bombed in an attempt to halt Kneecap's rise to fame, having previously warned JJ and Dolores of the damage it would bring. Meanwhile, the RRAD is preparing to kneecap the kidnapped Naoise when Arlo appears on the scene. Initially pretending that he intends to punish his son himself. Arlo instead shoots the three RRAD members and tells Naoise that he is proud of him and his music. He allows himself to be arrested while Liam is grudgingly released from police custody.
Kneecap's music becomes ever more popular despite the Protestant establishment doing everything in their power to stop them. Meanwhile, Caitlin continues her political campaign for the Irish Language Act, Dolores is shown singing in a pub (having overcome her agoraphobia), and Georgia and other students of all ages and backgrounds participate in an Irish language class.
Jack Tarling and Trevor Birney produce for Mother Tongues and Fine Point Films, respectively. Rich Peppiatt wrote and directed the film despite not being an Irish-speaker himself.[7] For Peppiatt, it marks his feature film directing debut having previously directed the music video for the band's single, "Guilty Conscience".[8] The band themselves are cast in the film in their acting debuts. They feature alongside experienced Irish actors such as Michael Fassbender, Josie Walker and Simone Kirby.[9] Principal photography took place on location in Belfast in May 2023.[10][11]
The digital download edition of the album includes a special version of Orbital's "Belfast" as a bonus track.
Physical editions of the album include "Every fucking story about Belfast starts like this" as the first track.
Physical editions of the album omit "'There are 80,000 native Irish speakers...'".
Physical editions of the album have "Belfast (Fuck the Fuck Off)" credited to Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Kerri Quinn, and Orbital as track 28.
Release and reception
The film premiered in the Next section at the Sundance Film Festival, the first Irish-language film to do so, on 18 January 2024.[17] Prior to, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights for North and Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East to the film.[18][1] The film is not being shown in Israel as a protest against the ongoing conflict in Palestine. Kneecap, known for their strong pro-Palestinian stance, made this decision to align with their advocacy for Palestinian rights.[19] Sony Pictures Classics later scheduled the film for a theatrical release in the United States on 2 August 2024.[20] The film was also scheduled to be the opening film at Sundance's London edition on 6 June 2024 and was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in August 2024.[21]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 137 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A rebellious anthem for cultural preservation, Kneecap is as shaggy, rambunctious, and lovable as the eponymous hip hop group at its center."[23]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[24]
Carlos Aguilar of Variety gave the film a positive review, writing: "Bursting with unruly energy that practically escapes the confines of the screen, Kneecap is a riotous, drug-laced triumph in the name of freedom that bridges political substance and crowd-pleasing entertainment."[25]PopMatters described it as one of the strongest films from 2024, praising the project's discussion of "class issues" and "use of colour."[26]
^Jury statement: "To Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Provái, for their seamless performance as an ensemble of musicians who make their acting debut in Kneecap. Proving equally authentic and explosive in both capacities, they bring a fresh and propulsive energy to the whole notion of cultural identity."
