The Irish band Kneecap spoke with MovieWeb’s Julian Roman about their new film based on and named after the band itself. Kneecap stars its three members, who each have different stage names – Naoise Ó Cairealláin is “Móglaí Bap,” Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh is “Mo Chara,” and JJ Ó Dochartaigh is “DJ Provaí.” The rambunctious young musicians are a shot of adrenaline here and in the film, which feels like a modern-day Trainspotting, one of the best movies of the year.

When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed ‘low life scum’ Naoise & Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip-hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, Kneecap fast become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue.

But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries & politicians trying to silence their defiant sound – whilst their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic Kneecap play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures.

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