Rave international reviews for KNEECAP film following Sundance premiere

Following its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah yesterday, the highly anticipated KNEECAP feature film has garnered hugely positive reviews and reactions from international outlets.

Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, KNEECAP was the first Irish language film to ever be screened at Sundance, which is considered the most prestigious independent film festival in the world. Starring the West Belfast hip-hop trio – made up of Mo Chara , Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí – as themselves, the film also features Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender, as well as Josie Walker and Simone Kirby.

The film is a semi-fictionalised account of the group's origins, and according to Sundance's website, "captures the untamable essence of this singular trio with unapologetic humor and energy, revealing a generation born out of chaos and ready to reclaim their cultural heritage."

Renowned UK film magazine Screen Daily are among those who have since published rave reviews of KNEECAP – describing the film as the "funniest thing to come out of Belfast..." and "a riot which strains let’s-form-a-band film tropes (they’re the ‘shit Beatles’ via The Commitments), stirs in some Monty Python, sucks up the Young Offenders in all its shell-suited glory and blows it out at audiences in a blast of two-fingered audacity."

American publication The Wrap called it "an audacious film that completely obliterates the expectations of the musical biopic genre..." – as well as "an act of pure delinquency that miraculously also inspires."

Film industry website Indie Wire praised the trio's "grounded, clever performances as characters close enough to their own stories, without it ever feeling like a documentary." Móglaí Bap is described as "the standout", with Indie Wire going on to note that "you'd think he'd been plucked from drama school rather than the streets of West Belfast. I'm no casting agent, but I'd watch his next film."

They also said to "expect a flurry of controversy when KNEECAP, funded in part by the BFI, is released in the UK..."

The film also earned enthusiastic applause from the audience as the credits rolled at its sold-out premiere at Sundance, with the trio and Rich Peppiatt in attendance.

(L-R) Fionnuala Flaherty, Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap, Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds

KNEECAP was the first non-US film to ever be selected for the NEXT section of Sundance – reserved for “pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to story-telling", according to the festival.

KNEECAP was produced by Jack Tarling and Trevor Birney for Fine Point Films and Mother Tongues Films, with Patrick O’Neill at Wildcard acting as co-producer.

KNEECAP will be released in cinemas by Wildcard and Curzon later this year.

Revisit KNEECAP's 2023 Hot Press cover story here.