Kneecap: If 'A Hard Days Night' had Drugs, Nudity, Anarchy and Gaelic Profanity

By Thom Ernst

Rating: A

Kneecap is an unlikely Irish hip-hop trio whose choice to rap in their traditional Gaelic tongue makes success even more improbable.

Then there is Kneecap, the movie, the band’s must-see music biopic that won the NEXT Audience Award at Sundance. This is their origin story — of sorts. The instinct is to believe everything, mainly since the three central members of Kneecap — Móglaí Bap (aka Naoise), Mo Chara (aka Liam Óg) and DJ Próvai (aka JJ) — play themselves.

But when the film delves into their rambunctious antics involving drugs, sex, and acts of anarchy — likely based on some truth — don’t trust every word the film says. This is an easy enough task if you don’t speak Gaelic, considering much of the dialogue can’t be understood anyway.

The untruth in Kneecap is substantial enough to label the film as fiction. Call it a "re-imagining," an “alternate truth,” or, to borrow a term from the literary world, "creative nonfiction." But unless you are familiar with Kneecap, their dedication to a cause, and their music, you'd be hard-pressed to separate fact from fiction.

I doubt even familiarity would be of much help. The truth is Kneecap exists; they did struggle to be heard, and their confrontations with authority, as well as enduring public outcry fueled by their fierce allegiance to represent their native Gaelic tongue in their music, as well as using lyrics celebrating drug use and a hedonistic lifestyle, are very real.

Kneecap is the latest film to join a list of re-imagined music biopics that range from the fantastical to the inspired to the weird. That list includes Rocketman (2019), 24 Hour Party People (2002), Born to Be Blue (2015), and director Richard Lester's inaugural boy band classic, A Hard Day's Night (1964).

The three men who make up Kneecap perform, as did The Beatles years before them, as versions of themselves (The Monkees too, although not entirely in the same way).  And like The Beatles, the gents in Kneecap are natural on camera and make for loveable young anarchists.

Kneecap is comparable to A Hard Day's Night but for the foul language, excessive drug use, sex, nudity, politics and occasional violence. It’s A Hard Day’s Night out on the town with 24-hour Party People. Ironically, the two films Kneecap most resembles are British, considering the film's anti-British, anti-colonial sentiments.

Director Rich Peppiatt wrote the screenplay with Bap and Chara to create the band's origin story — or at least an origin story Kneecap wants us to believe. It starts with a frustrated, Gaelic-speaking high-school music teacher (Próvai) being brought in by the police to interpret an accused delinquent (Chara) who refuses to speak "the Queen's English." 

Próvai pockets Chara's notebook of original Gaelic-language poems and, in them, finds the potential for politically ambitious, commercially lucrative song lyrics. And out from the backdrop of a cultural language war and the backlash against British colonialism, the band Kneecap forms. Bap and Chara take centrestage as frontmen, while acting manager Próvai adds additional vocals while protecting his identity behind a ski mask.

Despite the film's broad strokes, including a bullish cop (Josie Walker), a radical father who's gone AWOL (Michael Fassbender), a frustrated single mother (Simone Kirby), an outraged public, a verbally toxic love affair, and a careless, almost whimsical approach to excessive drug use, this inauthentic biopic feels authentic.

Kneecap is a lively run of disobedience with lots of music. Its excellent music, even if the vocals require subtitles.

At about two-thirds into Kneecap, I was struck by the uncomfortable realization that all good things must end, and so too will Kneecap. Like the feeling I get at an excellent live music concert, I did not want the show to end. Yet it does. Kneecap wraps up on a satisfying note, leaving behind the feeling of experiencing something incredible.

Kneecap is one of the most likeable films this year. Turn up the volume and enjoy.

Read Bonnie Laufer’s interview with Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt HERE.

Kneecap. Directed by Rich Peppiatt. Starring DJ Próvai, Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, Josie Walker, Michael Fassbender, and Simone Kirby. In select theatres August 2.