Kneecap (2024)

Kneecap

• I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have watched this if it wasn’t for Ireland's submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. I hadn’t even heard of it until I saw it on the list. Therefore, I knew absolutely nothing going into it, and I left feeling educated with a sense of perseverance. It’s all about preserving culture and language from being written over by powerful authorities. Of course, in this sense, it’s the Irish against the British, and I’m pretty sure most everyone is absolutely rooting for the Irish. As I understand it, the actual musicians of Kneecap play fictionalized versions of themselves, with a story that’s based on mostly true events. I might be completely wrong, that’s just what Google told me. But throughout the film, you get pumped up with the message and learn that you should always fight to save what is meaningful to you and your friends. I also liked how Kneecap used music to communicate to the masses. That music, which is present in the film, majorly, helps drive the story and message forward. The film was well written in that sense. The performances were great and authentic, considering it was the actual people that it’s based on. Now my negative comments are this: I’m not at all a rap fan, so it made it hard to sit through portions of this film. I liked the way it was used, I just can’t listen to rap. Because of that, I didn’t enjoy this as much as everyone else, but I still liked it. But that’s the only big kicker for me. Everything else was well written, edited, and performed. Overall, this film packs a big punch, and I’d recommend it if you like controversial musical films. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!