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| Source: Sony Pictures Classics |
Band biopics have been around since the beginning of film, but none of them have felt as genuine and raw as Sony Pictures Classics’ Kneecap. Rapping with relatable messaging, empoweredness, and an energetic cast (the band plays themselves!), it manages to be a genuine ride.
We follow the origins of Kneecap (an Irish-language hip-hop band) and their fight in the struggle to make the Irish language free and legalized in Ireland’s British-oppressed society. In true renegade fashion, this biopic doesn't employ traditional methods to get from point to point, instead relying on snappy phrases and larger-than-life visuals. A smaller budget makes this more realistic and less dramatized than most Hollywood-coated biopics. The 2nd act loses some charisma as the band struggles with internal and external pressures, but the 3rd act delivers a whammy of an ending to counteract this. Therefore, the down-to-earth story makes this all the more relatable to today’s audiences.
A unique twist here makes this noteworthy in the larger film landscape, and that is the casting. The actual members of Kneecap play themselves in this film, making their in-film reputation all more familiar and life-like. There is a sense of frenetic young enthusiasm in them that makes them flawed people worth empathy and humanization, despite their rebellious misdeeds.
To tie it all together, flashy and quick editing is used to make the film seem slapdash and kinetic. Inspired and manic, it pulls viewers in through a bit of dark humor, overemphasizing lines of dialogue, and having a bit of disbelief in what it’s presenting.
Overall, Kneecap is a crazy biopic with guts, excellently presenting real-world messages while also being the most unbelievable story to come out of the indie circle in quite some time.
My Rating: 9/10 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Now playing in theaters!
A Sony Pictures Classics Release
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