Director: Rich Peppiatt
A Belfast schoolteacher gets pulled into the orbit of two self-described troublemakers, and out of that collision comes a hip hop act unlike anything the city has heard.
What is Kneecap about?
JJ, a mild-mannered teacher, crosses paths with Naoise and Liam Og, two young men who rap entirely in Irish and treat the language as both weapon and inheritance. What starts as a chance encounter turns into a shared project: JJ becomes the group's unlikely producer, and together they build a sound that mixes street energy with a cause few expected from a rap act. As the trio's music spreads, so does its message, drawing attention from people who want the language preserved and others who see the group as a nuisance. The film follows their rise while keeping one foot planted in the everyday chaos of Belfast life.
Cast & crew
Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvai play versions of themselves, bringing an authenticity that a fictionalized trio couldn't replicate, while Michael Fassbender appears in a supporting role that adds weight to the family thread running through the story. Josie Walker, Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds, and Fionnuala Flaherty fill out a cast that grounds the film's music-driven energy in lived-in, working-class detail, under Rich Peppiatt's direction.
Context & significance
Kneecap arrived in 2024 as a rare hybrid: part music biopic, part comedy, part cultural statement, built around a real group whose name it borrows. Shot largely in Belfast, the film uses the city's streets and pubs as a backdrop for a story about language revival, tying the trio's rise to a broader debate about who gets to define Irish identity. Its blend of English and Irish dialogue, subtitled throughout, is itself part of the point the film is making.
Where & how to watch
Kneecap is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, letting Farsi-speaking viewers follow both the English and Irish dialogue without losing a beat of the film's rhythm. Browsing this page requires no account, but streaming the film calls for a K-Time login, on a platform built from the ground up with a Farsi interface for the Iranian diaspora.