KNEECAP

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

*The three main characters use their real names since they are playing fictionalized versions of themselves.

The film starts with Liam Óg “Mo Chara” Ó Hannaidh describing the story of the birth of his best friend, Naoishe “Móglai Bap” Ó Cairealláin. Naoishe was being brought to the forest by his mother Dolores (Simone Kirby) to join his father Arlo (Michael Fassbender) for Naoishe’s blessing, but the ceremony was interrupted since the authorities (or “peelers”) went after Arlo due to his IRA ties. Ever since Arlo left, Dolores hasn’t left the house.

As youths, Liam and Naoishe sell drugs. Arlo had faked his death ten years earlier to avoid captivity, but Naoishe knows he is still alive and occasionally visits him. Naoishe still retains a sense of Irish pride despite anger at his father for leaving. During a party, cops arrive to bust the place up. Naoishe gets away but Liam is arrested.

At the station, he is harassed by cops into speaking English when he is choosing to speak his indigenous Irish language. Detective Ellis (Fiona Walker) brings in a teacher, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, to come in and translate for Liam. JJ opens Liam’s notebook and finds rap lyrics written in the Irish language, along with a whole strip of acid tabs. JJ covers for Liam and swipes the notebook after Liam causes a disturbance that forces the other cops to enter. At home, JJ goes over the lyrics and goes to his garage to add beats to it.

Liam talks to a counselor about his experiences with women. He has hooked up with a number of British women but they get mad when he exclaims “Tiocfaidh ár lá!” (“Our day will come!”) before climaxing. The one woman who appears to have liked him back is another Irish woman named Georgia (Jessica Reynolds), who gets excited by him saying the phrase.

JJ later finds Liam and Naoishe at an arcade with the proposition of creating music in the Irish language. The boys aren’t immediately onboard but eventually come around to it. They get really high and go to JJ’s garage to create their first big track. Liam decides to call themselves “Kneecap” after the infamous torture method used during the Troubles.

The guys book their first gig at a pub. While it isn’t a big crowd, the bartender records them on her phone, and soon, their music catches on. JJ even overhears some of his students reciting Kneecap’s lyrics. However, he tries to keep this part of his life separate from his girlfriend Caitlin (Fionnuala Flaherty), an activist in the campaign for the Irish Language Act, which would officially recognize indigenous language of Northern Ireland. JJ also worries that he could lose his job since the trio’s lyrics are vulgar and political. Detective Ellis separately visits JJ and Dolores to warn them about the danger that Kneecap’s music will cause.

Kneecap starts to book gigs with bigger crowds. JJ starts to wear a balaclava to hide his face and starts going by “DJ Próvaí”. The guys get high off ketamine before performing and put on a crazy show while also giving out free drugs to their guests. Liam and Naoishe end up catching the attention of a dissident republican organization, the Radical Republicans Against Drugs. They threaten the boys for selling drugs in their area, leading to a brawl between the five, and Liam and Naoishe are overpowered.

During one of their shows, Georgia attends after Liam tells her that he is a rapper. JJ moons the audience and has “Brits out!” written on his ass, which upsets Georgia enough to kiss another guy in front of Liam. She confronts him after the performance since she is a Protestant and she finds their lyrics controversial. After an angry kiss, Georgia tells Liam she never wants to see him again.

The guys are approached by a woman working for a radio station, RnaG, with the request for them to create a track to play. The three return to JJ’s garage, only to find that it has been burned down. They sneak into the school and quickly record new music.

Detective Ellis overhears a noise in her home. She grabs her gun and walks upstairs and opens the door to a room, where she finds Georgia (her niece) having sex with Liam. He runs away, mortified. Later on, the RRAD goons approach Liam and Naoishe, demanding that they give them their cut of the drug money they earn.

The guys await to hear their track on the radio, only to find it replaced by some other music due to the sexual and drug-based lyrics. Dolores protests to the other mothers in the neighborhood, and soon, they all start to phone the radio station to complain, which forces them to play Kneecap’s song. However, this causes JJ’s identity as DJ Próvaí to become public. After addressing the school board, he is let go from his job, and Caitlin breaks up with him. Despite thinking about leaving the group, JJ decides to stay with Kneecap.

Kneecap later gets booked to play a huge show. The crowd eats up their performance, and after doing a crowd surf, Naoishe is stunned to see none other than Arlo in attendance. During their next song, the boys play a recording of the RRAD leader threatening them as he and his boys are in the crowd. He fires off a gunshot, causing a panic and everybody to run. In the chaos, Liam is arrested by Ellis, and Naoishe gets caught by the RRAD.

At the station, Ellis beats Liam repeatedly, revealing herself as the one who bombed the garage while also angrily demanding that Liam stay away from Georgia. Between the blows to his head, this makes Liam realize that he is in love with Georgia. The other officers pull a tearful Ellis away from Liam. Meanwhile, the RRAD goons prepare to shoot Naoishe until Arlo emerges from the shadows. The RRAD leader recognizes Arlo as a hero to him, and Arlo insists that he be the one to cap his son. He instead turns the gun on the three goons and forces them to crawl away. Arlo expresses pride in his son’s music before letting Naoishe leave so that he may be arrested.

Liam narrates the end as the other characters are seen embracing their Irish culture. Caitlin is still seen campaigning, while Georgia is taking Irish language classes. Dolores finally leaves the house and is seen singing in the pub. Kneecap’s music becomes more popular than ever.

The ending text states that the Irish Language Act passed in 2022, with the reminder that indigenous languages are lost all over the world. Pictures are shown of Kneecap over the years while their song “H.O.O.D.” plays, ending with a picture of Liam and Naoishe as kids.

The film is a fictionalized account of the origin of Kneecap, an Irish rap group that rose to prominence for creating music with the indigenous Irish language.

Liam and Naoishe have been best friends since childhood, with Naoishe's father Arlo having faked his death and disappeared to avoid being arrested for his IRA ties. The boys deal drugs and run into trouble with the law before meeting schoolteacher JJ, who finds lyrics that Liam has written in the Irish language. After putting them to music, JJ proposes that they form a group and create more songs. Kneecap is formed, and they quickly become popular with the youths.

Due to their vulgar and perceived anti-British lyrics, Kneecap becomes controversial with the police, especially Detective Ellis, who finds out that Liam is dating her niece Georgia. Liam and Naoishe also end up in hot water with the Radical Republicans Against Drugs, who want the boys to give up their drug money.

After the guys get played on the radio, JJ's identity as DJ Próvaí in the group is discovered, costing him his job and his relationship. Kneecap ends up playing a huge show, where Arlo even shows up. After Liam plays a recorded conversation with the RRAD threatening them, their leader fires a gun and causes a frenzy, which leads to Liam getting arrested by Ellis, and Naoishe getting caught by the RRAD. Liam is beaten at the station by Ellis in retaliation for his relationship with Georgia and for him giving her a hard time earlier, and she admits that she blew up JJ's garage where they made music. Naoishe is saved by Arlo, who caps the RRAD goons and lets his son go before Arlo is arrested. Liam is also let go.

Kneecap's music becomes more popular than ever, and the Irish Language Act that officially recognizes the indigenous Irish language is passed in 2022.