6 days Ago By Lucas Hill-Paul
Amazon Prime Video has just dropped one of this year's cinematic standouts for its subscribers to devour. The film, a musical thriller, offers a bold and humorous take on the Northern Ireland conflict, following a group that's been shaking up the music scene over the past decade. Featuring the actual band members as themselves, this potential Irish cult favourite is loaded with pulsating beats, uproarious humour, and a fair share of mischief.
Prime members can now indulge in this cinematic treat at no additional cost, making it an essential watch for enthusiasts of cutting-edge tunes, gripping crime stories, and poignant narratives. Enter the world of Kneecap, a somewhat overlooked masterpiece of the year that delivers a significant impact and deserves widespread attention. The film stars Irish rappers Liam Og "Mo Chara" O Hannaidh, Naoise "Moglai Bap" O Caireallain and JJ "DJ Provai" O Dochartaigh playing themselves in this autobiographical tale set against the backdrop of Belfast.
The plot thickens when Liam gets arrested and refuses to speak English, leading to an unexpected bond with Irish teacher JJ who's called in to interpret. Discovering Liam's rap talent, JJ forms a trio with him and his mate Naoise, setting the stage for their controversial tunes to hit the big time. Also featuring in this stellar cast are Jessica Reynolds, barely recognisable from her Outlander stint, and A-lister Michael Fassbender portraying Naoise's dad.
Wendy Ide from The Guardian hailed Kneecap as "exhilarating" and dubbed it "one of the funniest films of the year". "The combination of the profane and the political, the riotous humour and punchy editing makes for one of the more energising viewing experiences of the year, and possibly one of the funniest," she pens. The Upcoming remarks: "It hardly comes as a surprise that the Kneecap won the NEXT Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
"The film will, without doubt, become a cult classic amongst certain audiences, but it is important to acknowledge that Kneecap proves to be an educational experience as well as a dramatisation. "Through all the fun and games the political arguments remain very real and look certain to continue to be so in the distant future." FilmHounds' glowing five-star review stated: "Overall, Kneecap is one of the best music biopics in decades; a film that can involve excessive drug-use and sex, yet find sincerity and a strong message at the centre of it.
"It never feels like a greatest hits track or glorifies the band (which many biopics opt to do), but instead has that grit and punch needed to tell a story like this. In decades to come, there'll be one rap trio that we will look back on as being one of the greatest to come out of Britain in the 2010s: Kneecap." And The Independent labels it a "sweary, crude and brilliantly political Irish comedy".
"Kneecap is so confident and single-minded in its telling of the semi-fictionalised origins of its titular west Belfast hip-hop trio, that it may make anyone who's never heard of them feel like a bit of a loser," they added. "It's a film that not only signals a major musical arrival, but ends up feeling a lot bigger than the conventional (and often confining) boundaries of the 'music biopic'." Will you be joining the Kneecap revolution this weekend? Kneecap is available to stream on Prime Video.
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