Review: ‘Kneecap,’ starring Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds and Michael Fassbender

August 6, 2024

by Carla Hay

Naoise Ó Cairealláin , JJ Ó Dochartaigh and Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh in “Kneecap” (Photo by Helen Sloan/Sony Pictures Classics)

“Kneecap”

Directed by Rich Peppiatt

Irish and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in the late 2010s in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the comedy/drama “Kneecap” (a biopic of the rap group of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A schoolteacher and two hoodlums become unlikely musical partners in Kneecap, a rap trio that causes controversy for its pro-Irish, anti-British rhetoric. 

Culture Audience: “Kneecap” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and biopics about rebellious underdogs.

Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh and JJ Ó Dochartaigh in “Kneecap” (Photo by Ryan Kernaghan/Sony Pictures Classics)

The comedy/drama “Kneecap” is partly a musical biopic, partly a call for Irish pride, and partly a celebration of rebellious hedonism. The members of Kneecap credibly portray versions of themselves. This isn’t the type of movie where it looks like the non-professional actors are struggling to keep up with the professional actors. This is a movie where everyone performs in a seamless and realistic way that might make some people squirm but it will be hard for viewers to look away.

Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, “Kneecap” had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival (where it won the NEXT Audience Award) and later premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film &TV Festival and the 2024 Tribeca Festival. The movie (which takes place in the late 2010s in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an origin story of Kneecap but also a ragtag history lesson on the fight for the United Kingdom to make Irish an official language in Northern Ireland.

The voiceover narrator of “Kneecap” is Mo Chara (the stage name of Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, who plays a version of himself in the movie), who is heard telling a wild story something that happened in the youth of his best friend/musical partner Móglaí Bap (also known as Naoise Ó Cairealláin, who plays a version of himself in the movie). According to Mo Chara, the baptism of Móglaí Bap happened outdoors in a wooded area at night.

Móglaí Bap’s parents Arló Ó Cairealláin (played by Michael Fassbender) and Dolores Ó Cairealláin (played by Simone Kirby) are caught off guard when a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) helicopter suddenly appears in the air to take Arló into custody? Why? Because Arló is an outlaw Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, who is considered to be a terrorist.

It’s later explained that Arló abandoned the family and went into hiding. He didn’t contact Móglaí Bap/Naoise and Dolores for years. Eventually, Arló was presumed dead and a funeral service/memorial was held for him. There’s a running joke in the movie about Arló’s mysterious disappearance. Chara says of Móglaí Bap/Naoise’s chaotic childhood: “I mean, what fucking chance did the wee boy have?”

“Kneecap” has a lot of surrealistic imagery that’s meant to be a reflection of the drug-addled perspective of the Kneecap protagonists. The movie has a constant stream of scenes where drug abuse is either mentioned or shown. After a while, it gets a tad annoying because “Kneecap” over-relies on drug jokes and comes dangerously close to making it overtake the story when there are much more interesting aspects to these characters.

As kids at about 7 or 8 years old, Móglaí Bap/Naoise (played by Aidan McCaughey) and Mo Chara/Liam (played by Cillian Kernan) irst come into contact with drugs when they’re on a street and a drug dealer, who’s being chased by police on foot, throws a bag of marijuana at bystanders Naoise and Liam to get rid of this evidence.

The police run by without knowing that the two boys now have this drug dealer’s marijuana stash. As a prank, altar boys Liam and Naoise spiked the communion juice with this marijuana at their church. An adult Liam then smugly says in a voiceover: “Next Sunday, the congregation doubled.”

As young adults, Liam and Naoise are drug-abusing partiers and small-time drug dealers who spend a lot of time in nightclubs. Naoise and Liam are very proud of their Northern Irish heritage and prefer to speak Irish instead of English. The two pals are at a nightclub that gets raided. Naoise (who is high on ketamine) escapes. Liam (who’s high on Ecstasy) gets arrested.

Liam is brought in for interrogation at a police station, which has provided an Irish-language interpreter named JJ Ó Dochartaigh (playing a version of himself), who has a day job as music teacher at a local high school. During this interrogation, JJ notices that Liam has a notebook, which has handwritten lyrics as well as a sheet of psychedelic drugs. JJ takes the sheet of drugs home with him because he likes to get high too. JJ hides his drug use from his co-workers, his students and his loyal wife Caitlin (played by Fionnuala Flaherty), who still suspects that JJ has secrets.

Liam is eventually released from police custody. When he reunites with Naoise, these two troublemakers continue to raise some hell. While on a street one day, Liam sees some Royal Irish Rangers, a light infantry regiment of the British Army considered to be the enemy of the IRA. Liam insults these Rangers, who then chase him on foot on the street.

JJ happens to be on driving on the same street when he sees that Liam is in trouble. JJ comes to the rescue by giving Liam a car ride to escape from the Rangers. They soon meet up with Naoise. JJ tells Naoise and Liam that he saw the lyrics in Liam’s notebook and thinks that Liam has real talent. JJ suggests that they make rap music to the lyrics in the Irish language.

At first, Naoise and Liam are skeptical and laugh at the idea because they think the chances are slim to not that an Irish-language rap act can make it big. But when JJ mentions that he has a small recording studio that Naoise and Liam can use, Naoise and Liam take up JJ on his offer, and the three of them end up forming a musical group called Kneecap.

JJ becomes Kneecap’s DJ (with the stage name DJ Próvai) and wears a ski mask when performing with Kneecap in public, because he doesn’t want people who know he’s a schoolteacher to find out that he’s been moonlighting in this radical rap group. Kneecap’s recording sessions are drug-fueled binges where they write songs and make music in between using drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, Ecstasy and ketamine.

“Kneecap” has a subplot about Liam getting sexually involved with a domineering and sassy young woman named Georgia (played by Jessica Reynolds), who likes to act as if she doesn’t really like Liam. She uses light S&M techniques on him during their sexual encounters to show him that she’s the one who’s in charge in their relationship. Liam is relatively inexperienced and tolerates it all because he falls in love with Georgia.

And what a coincidence: Georgia’s mother is Detective Ellis (played by Josie Walker), the same officer who’s leading the investigation to find Arló and to bust the drug dealing of Naoise and Liam. Detective Ellis doesn’t believe that Arló is really dead. And neither should viewers of “Kneecap,” since there’s no way a movie like this would have a star like Fassbender and just have him do a few flashbacks scenes as a cameo. The truth of what happened to Arló is eventually revealed in “Kneecap.”

“Kneecap” is about as “in your face” as it gets when it comes to depicting the sex, drugs and hip-hop lifestyle if Kneecap. There’s also a subplot about Naoise and Liam clashing with members of an activist group called Radical Republicans Against Drugs. A lot of it is played for laughs and should not be take too seriously. However, some viewers might be offended if they think the movie makes this hedonism look glamorous. If anything, the movie probably tones down or leaves out a lot of naughty things that really go on behind the scenes with Kneecap.

As for the music, whether or not a viewer likes rap, the performances (especially on stage) are electrifying. (Kneecap songs on the “Kneecap” soundtrack are “Belfast,” “C.E.A.R.T.A.,” “H.O.O.D.,” “Amach Anocht,” “Sick in the Head,” “Better Way to Live (featuring Grian Chatten), “Guilty Conscience,” “Thart Agus Thart” and “Parful.”) Even the admitted hooligans of Kneecap have a purpose that’s bigger than just getting wasted on drugs. They see themselves as staunch warriors of Irish pride who advocate for adding the Irish language as an official language in Northern Ireland instead of having only English as Northern Ireland’s official language. The story of “Kneecap” takes place during the controversies of turning this initiative into the law.

The slapstick comedy and serious political commentary don’t always blend well together in “Kneecap.” However, the principal cast members’ performances work quite well with the movie’s often madcap tone. Fassbender, who doesn’t do a lot of comedies, looks like he’s having a lot of fun in this role as a deadbeat dad who think he’s made sacrifices for a noble cause. “Kneecap” is perhaps most relatable to a specific audience who is at least familiar with Northern Irish culture. However, the movie can also be recommended viewing for anyone who likes bawdy comedies about “underdogs” who find a way to triumph against an oppressive system.

Sony Pictures Classics released “Kneecap” in U.S. cinemas on August 2, 2024. The movie was released in Ireland on August 8, 2024.

Review: ‘The Wonder’ (2022), starring Florence Pugh

November 16, 2022

by Carla Hay

Tom Burke, Florence Pugh and Kíla Lord Cassidy in “The Wonder” (Photo by Christopher Barr/Netflix)

“The Wonder” (2022)

Directed by Sebastián Lelio

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1862 in the Midlands of Ireland, the dramatic film “The Wonder” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A Nightingale nurse from England is hired to go to Ireland to find out the reason why an 11-year-old girl has reportedly been able to survive for four months without eating and without any signs of starvation.

Culture Audience: “The Wonder” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Florence Pugh and movies that make pointed observations about how religion can control and influence people’s lives.

Josie Walker, Toby Jones, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Niamh Algar and Florence Pugh in “The Wonder” (Photo by Aidan Monaghan/Netflix)

“The Wonder” will test the patience of viewers with short attention spans, but the movie’s subtlety, nuances and Florence Pugh’s standout performance are great rewards for people who want to see a drama about religion and moral hypocrisy. This is the type of movie where some of the biggest revelations don’t happen in loud, bombastic moments but occur in hushed tones and whispers that are sometimes engulfed in shame.

Directed by Sebastián Lelio, “The Wonder” is based on Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel of the same name. Lelio, Donoghue and Alice Birch co-wrote the adapted screenplay for “The Wonder.” Although the movie is set in a rural Irish community in 1862, many of the themes in “The Wonder” transcend time and location and can apply to the past, present and future of any community where religion is the driving force of how people live. “The Wonder” had its world premiere at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival, and then had its Canadian premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

The beginning of “The Wonder” has an unusual location of a movie set of props where no one is present, but viewers can hear this voiceover saying: “This is the beginning of a film called ‘The Wonder.’ The people you are about to meet, the characters believe in their stories with complete devotion.” The camera then moves from the prop-filled set to a movie-set replication of the inside of train, as the story begins and transports viewers back to the year 1862.

On the train is the central protagonist of “The Wonder”: Lib Wright (played by Pugh), a Nightingale nurse from England, who is traveling by herself to the Midlands of Ireland. A devoutly Catholic community (which is unnamed in the movie) has hired Lib to watch over an 11-year-old girl named Anna O’Donnell (played by Kíla Lord Cassidy), who has been in the news for being a “miracle girl.” Anna has reportedly not eaten for the past four months and has no signs of starvation or any weight loss.

Lib is a compassionate and strong-willed nurse who is very skeptical that Anna hasn’t eaten any food for the past four months. When she arrives at the boarding house where she’ll be staying, she finds out that she has to share a room with a nun named Sister Michael (played by Josie Walker), who will be sharing the work shift duties of watching over Anna. When Lib expresses some disappointment that she will have to share a room with a nun, instead of having her own room, the boarding house’s matriarch Mrs. Maggie Ryan (played by Ruth Bradley) quips, “Welcome to Ireland.”

In her first meal at the Ryan family home, Lib is polite, observant and somewhat guarded about herself. The Ryan family consists of Maggie; her husband, Sean Ryan (played by David Wilmot), who works as a publican; and their five daughters (played by Darcey Campion, Abigail Coburn, Carla Hurley O’Dwyer, Juliette Hurley O’Dwyer and Carly Kane). Maggie tells Anna that the eldest four daughters are Sean’s daughters from his marriage to his first wife, who is now deceased. The youngest daughter is the biological child of Sean and Maggie.

Sean is on a five-man committee overseeing Lib and Sister Michael in the women’s job of observing Anna. The other men on the committee are Dr. McBrearty (played by Toby Jones), Father Thaddeus (played by Ciarán Hinds), landowner John Flynn (played by Brian F. O’Byrne), and Baronet Sir Ottway (played by Dermot Crowley). Dr. McBrearty is the most outspoken of the five men and is the one who’s most likely to give orders. It should come as no surprise that independent-minded Lib will clash with Dr. McBrearty the most.

In Lib’s first meeting in front of the committee, she is adamantly told that her job is to observe and talk to Anna and do nothing else. Lib is not allowed to give Anna any food, water or medical attention. Lib is concerned and uncomfortable with this command, but Dr. McBrearty reminds Lib that she’s being paid a considerable amount of money to do whatever the committee tells her to do. Lib is told that after 15 days, Lib and Sister Michael will be required to give separate testimonial reports about what they each believe is the cause of Anna’s seemingly miraculous condition.

When Lib meets the O’Donnell family, she finds a deeply religious clan who’s emotionally haunted by the death of Anna’s older brother Pat, who passed away nine months earlier. A recent photo of Pat in the family home shows that he was about 15 years old. Pat’s cause of death is never fully explained, but it’s described in the movie as being a sudden death.

Anna’s parents Rosaleen O’Donnell (played by Elaine Cassidy) and Malachy O’Donnell (played by Caolán Byrne) appear to be humble and unassuming. Rosaleen is very devoted and nurturing to Anna, whom Rosaleen calls “a jewel, a wonder.” However, Lib can’t help but notice that Anna’s parents accept money from people who want to see this “miracle girl” up close. Lib thinks this practice is distasteful, and she sometimes sends these visitors away because Lib is more concerened about Anna’s health.

The O’Donnells have a housekeeper named Kitty (played by Niamh Algar), who is in her 20s, and who has recently started learning how to read. Kitty might not have a lot of formal education, but she is very knowledgeable about her surroundings and the people in the community. Kitty is usually the one to tell Lib some of the personal backgrounds of the people in the community. In other words, Kitty knows a lot more than people think she does.

As for Anna, she’s a mostly quiet child who will answer any questions about her condition by saying that it’s all coming from God. When Lib asks Anna how she’s been able to not have any physical effects of not eating, Anna insists that she’s getting “manna from heaven.” Lib asks, “How does it feel?” Anna replies, “Full.” That’s not a good-enough answer for Lib, who is very doubtful that Anna has not eaten anything for the past four months. Lib is determined to find out why.

Someone else who wants to get to the bottom of this mystery is Will Byrne (played by Tom Burke), a reporter for the Daily Telegraph in England. Will is visiting this community to investigate, so it’s inevitable that Lib meets Will. Kitty tells Lib that Will grew up in the community but moved to England for his university education and to pursue a career in journalism. According to Kitty, Will’s parents were so heartbroken that he left Ireland and didn’t keep in touch with them, so his parents locked themselves in their home and starved themselves to death during the Great Famine.

The Great Famine, which devastated Ireland from 1845 to 1849, resulted in about 100,000 people dying from starvation and disease, stemming from blighted potato crops that also caused an economic crisis. The village where the O’Donnells live was hit hard by the Great Famine, which is why Anna’s seemingly miraculous starvation survival has a particularly emotional resonance in this religious community. The voiceover in the beginning of the movie comments: “The Great Famine casts a long shadow, and the Irish hold the English responsible for all that devastation.”

It doesn’t take long for Lib to become frustrated by her employers’ orders not to help Anna in any way. One night, when she’s off-duty and hanging out at Sean’s pub, she angrily asks him: “What kind of backwards village imports a professional nurse for something like this?” Sean responds with equal ire and says to Lib, “Prove it’s nonsense, and then fuck off [and go] home.”

There’s some underlying tension between the Irish villagers and anyone they consider to be an “outsider,” especially those from England. Will, who has now made England his home, experiences a certain amount of mistrust from the villagers too, because Will is considered somewhat of a “traitor” to abandon his Irish home to move to England. At first, Will and Lib seem to be in hostile competition to find out what’s going on with Anna, but Lib and Will eventually discover that they actually like each other, and they bond over their “outsider” status in this village.

And who exactly is Lib? She slowly reveals information about herself to certain people. Viewers find out that she served in the Crimean War. After the war, she was married to a man who disappeared and is presumed dead. And she is in deep emotional pain over the death of her baby daughter, who passed away at three weeks old. Lib later confides in Anna that Lib’s husband left Lib shortly after the death of their child.

When Lib is alone in her room, she takes out a towel that has a pair of baby booties and some liquid opium. She has a secret self-harming ritual of getting high by drinking the opium and pricking an index finger until she sees blood. She then sucks the blood so that no stains appear anywhere. When Anna shows Lib a bloody tooth that has fallen out of Anna’s mouth, Lib wonders if Anna is also engaging in self-harm.

Observant viewers will notice that it’s mentioned early on in the movie that Anna has stopped eating since her 11th birthday. “The Wonder” has recurring themes and references to being reborn and people going through different transitions of life and death. Certain people in the story are obsessed with who is going to heaven or hell and who might be stuck in purgatory.

Lib, whose birth name is Elizabeth, is asked by Anna if she likes to call herself by any other names, such as Elizabeth, Beth or Liz. Later, after Lib reveals something about herself, Lib will ask Anna if she could be another person, what her name would be. Anna says she would choose the name Nan.

“The Wonder” often reflects the slow pace of a rural village, so this movie might be too sluggish for some viewers. However, the performances of the cast members are admirable, while the mystery of Anna’s condition can keep viewers curious enough to find out what will happen next and how the movie will end. Pugh is a solid anchor for “The Wonder,” which is not a movie that has her flashiest, awards-bait role, but it’s testament to how talented she is that her portrayals of various characters seem so natural.

Even though Pugh performs the role of Lib in an authentic way, others part of the “The Wonder” have a few authenticity flaws and disappointments. For example, this community is ruled by the teachings of the Catholic Church, but “The Wonder” inexplicably does not show enough of Father Thaddeus’ influence on this community. Father Thaddeus is a mostly silent member of the committee that is supervising Lib and Sister Michael. It’s an unfortunate waste of the talent of Oscar-nominated actor Hinds.

Lib also does something very dangerous toward the end of “The Wonder.” And how it’s staged in the movie looks rushed and somewhat hard to believe. The movie doesn’t deviate from the book in what happens, but the cinematic version of this conclusion seems crammed quickly into a movie that took its time to linger on other less meaningful parts of the story. These flaws are minor and don’t ruin “The Wonder,” which is a distinctive psychological drama that effectively portrays the conflicts that can occur between comforts of religious faith and the discomforts of harsh reality.

Netflix released “The Wonder” in select U.S. cinemas on November 2, 2022. The movie premiered on Netflix on November 16, 2022.

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