KNEECAP

Name: KNEECAP
Item: KNEECAP
Author: Review

"The Gritty Side of Irish Hip Hop"

Family Content: -4 Intentional blasphemy, evil, gross immorality, and/or worldview problems. (To be avoided)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

KNEECAP is a musical biopic set in Northern Ireland. It follows the rise of the Irish hip-hop, rap group Kneecap. JJ, a cynical school music teacher, and his wife run a fledgling movement to permanently enshrine the Irish language into UK law. JJ runs into his former pupils, Naoise and Liam Og. Both young brothers have turned to a life of drugs and degeneracy. JJ discovers the brothers’ talent for rapping in their native Irish tongue. The three men form “Kneecap” not only to spread their music; but also, to rescue their mother tongue from oblivion. However, the government and local forces threaten to tear them apart.

KNEECAP tells a fascinating story with great production values. The editing, acting and “gritty handheld” aesthetics are well done. The movie stresses standing up for one’s cultural heritage, two sons reuniting with their father, and working together against a corrupt anti-drug agency. However, the movie buckles under the weight of relentless hedonism. It glorifies the band’s heavy consumption of drugs, sexual immorality, and constant, over-the-top swearing. Ultimately, KNEECAP offers little in the way of redemption.

Content:

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Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Very strong pagan, humanist worldview explores hedonism and Irish patriotism, two brothers try to reconnect with their father (who was previously presumed dead), the main characters speak in their native Irish tongue in defiance of the English government, the main trio perform rap music supporting Irish nationalism, two brothers engage in internet drug trades, a husband and wife lead a political movement to enshrine their language into UK law, the main characters attend Catholic Church at a young age, and a town holds a funeral service for a deceased father;

Foul Language:

Strong foul language throughout, with more than 200 “f” words in both English and Irish dialog, and nearly every other obscenity and profanity is uttered more than 150 times;

Violence:

Moderate violence throughout, the main characters engage in fighting and punching, two brothers experience a physical beating by an anti-drug group, a female police officer slaps a suspect in the face with a stick, a man is pummeled by anti-riot officers, and a man shoots several gang members at their knee joints;

Sex:

A man engages in promiscuous sex with at least three women, a woman uses a whip on her partner, depicted oral sex, and man discovers that he’s slept with the adult twentysomething daughter of the police captain;

Nudity:

A woman is shown topless during romantic scenes, and a man is shown shirtless during intercourse, but no genitalia are depicted;

Alcohol Use:

The main characters are shown drinking alcohol during their parties, a mother is shown to be a drunkard, and the core trio experiences a hangover;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

The main characters are shown to be heavy smokers, the core trio consumes illegal substances from outside the United Kingdom, the trio experiences hallucinations while high, two brothers engage in drug deals over the internet, and the core trio snorts the wrong drugs before performing a song; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

The United Kingdom government refuses to officially recognize Gaelic as an official language within the law, a female officer vows to prosecute the core trio for their degenerate activities, an officer orders a man to pass a “drug breath” test out of pure spite, a corrupt anti-drug league lies to the public, a teacher exposes his “anti-British” butt tattoo on national television, and the core trio uses school music equipment without written permission.

More Detail:

KNEECAP is a fictionalized retelling of three Irish rappers coming together to preserve their Irish heritage under English law. Set in the slums of Belfast, Ireland, the movie follows the band’s struggle with drugs, fame, and the pressure to keep the Irish Gaelic dialect alive for the new generation. Kneecap is made up of three men: Liam, the brains and lead rapper of the operation, his brother Naoise, the sex-obsessed party animal, and their music teacher JJ, a school teacher suffering from a mid-life crisis. The trio is portrayed by the real-life members of Kneecap. Each man deals with their inner demons but are united under the cause of spreading Irish rap music to the wider world.

The movie begins with Liam recounting the downward spiral of his family. Liam’s family lives in the lower-end neighborhood of Belfast. His father is Arlo (Michael Fassbender) a pro-Irish activist who often destroyed property in protest against Britain’s poor treatment of Northern Ireland. Arlo tells his boys to always speak in Gaelic, the mother tongue of Ireland. He emphasizes that nations are built upon language, and if that language ceases to exist, their shared culture ends in oblivion. With the government on his tail, Arlo leaves his family, fakes his death, and goes incognito for years. Liam resents this decision, stating it tore his family apart.

The story fast forwards to Liam and his brother Naoise in their mid-twenties. Both men have dedicated themselves to a life of selling drugs, partying, and sex. Liam gets arrested for smuggling drugs to a local Irish bar. The English police try to interrogate him, but he chooses to only answer in Gaelic. The police bring in JJ, the middle-class music teacher, as a translator. Through a technicality, Liam manages to leave the building on lesser charges.

Meanwhile, JJ and his wife organize a political campaign for Parliament. The couple and their neighbors want to enshrine Gaelic as an officially recognized language within British law. The politicians are resistant to this change, viewing the Irish people and their cultural heritage as a nuisance. However, due to apathy from the wider Irish community, this movement reached a standstill.

Later, JJ feels burdened by the monotony as a public school music teacher. He is great at using a sound mixing board, but terrible at being a good husband. With the political organization taking a toll on his marriage, JJ decides to unwind inside town. He then stumbles upon Liam and Naoise’s secret garage. In their spare time, the brothers create rap music with Gaelic lyrics. JJ listens to their skillful rap and tinkers with their EQ mixing. Surprised by his expert feat of sound engineering, the brothers welcome their former teacher and throw a party of cocaine, alcohol, and loud rap music.

The next morning, JJ convinces the brothers to take their hip-hop skills to the professional level. If the three of them play their Gaelic lyrics over the radio waves, there is a chance they can drum up public support for the Gaelic language bill. The three of them name themselves “Kneecap” as a joke, become a smash hit at the local pub and gain a following around the United Kingdom. JJ becomes the group’s anonymous DJ, while the brothers act as the frontmen.

However, Kneecap faces pressure from every direction. Liam and Naoise’s hedonistic habits get out of hand. They attract ire from the police and the local gangs. JJ soon puts his school career and his marriage on the line. On top of that, the band’s vulgar and over-the-top performances threaten to upend the Gaelic political movement. Can Kneecap save themselves in time?

KNEECAP is an unconventional biopic with great production values but can be nauseating for media-wise viewers. The movie’s biggest strength is its unique presentation. While the cast is fluent in both English and Gaelic, most of KNEECAP is spoken through Gaelic dialogue with English subtitles. This bold choice reinforces the story’s theme of “keeping a culture alive through its language.” It is an odd way to structure a movie, but it gives a “personal authenticity” that’s rarely seen in this genre.

During the “music video” scenes, KNEECAP incorporates “sketch line” effects similar to SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD. These sequences feature great use of color, bizarre cinematography, and greatly complement the movie’s offbeat nature. Another strength is the performances. The actors do a great job representing the grit and ludicrous situations for each character. The core trio, who are played by first-time actors, turn in good performances. On a technical front, the movie is solid.

The real blunder to KNEECAP is its excessive moral depravity. KNEECAP skews towards a heavily hedonistic worldview with some Christian elements. The core trio values honesty, sticking out for each other and a strong patriotism towards their home country of Ireland. The brothers go to a Catholic church, hold a funeral service for their deceased father and manage to influence Parliament to encode the Gaelic dialect into law. These values, as honorable as they are, are outweighed by the movie’s hedonistic tendencies.

The movie features heavy consumption of drugs, smoking, and alcohol. The band gets “high,” hallucinates themselves as clay monsters and experiences a hangover. The band never renounces these habits, even when the credits roll. In a major subplot, Naoise gets into an abusive relationship with the police chief’s daughter. Both of them engage in fornication, oral sex and sadomasochism. A woman is briefly shown topless, and a man is shown shirtless, but no genitalia are shown.

KNEECAP also has more than 200 “f” words in English and Gaelic. Most of the rap songs also used in this movie also feature “f” words, plus every other obscenity known to mankind. Finally, the movie has strong gang violence. Characters throw punches, fists and at one point shoot the kneecaps of three gang members. For a movie that showcases the beauty of a nation’s tongue, it’s extremely ironic that it has the cinematic equivalent of a “sailor mouth.”

KNEECAP is a well-produced biopic that goes overboard with its spicier elements. It features some great acting, fast-paced editing and a unique presentation. Yet, its hedonistic worldview is chalk full of swearing, sex and drugs. This abhorrent content greatly undermines the movie’s positive moral values of sticking together and being loyal to one’s heritage.