Kneecap (2024) is a film about the real life Irish Language rap group from Belfast that got together to push their voice and their tounge to the world.
I know what you're thinking "Oh, a musician biopic, this is gonna be a nothing burger", and I understand those immediate concerns, but if you backed out now, you'd be ignoring quite the everything bagel. Right from the opening line, I knew I was in for a complete riot.
This film simply has it all. It's got an over the top, off the walls and absolutely bonkers vibe (you can probably tell what kind of film it is just from the poster). The performances all hit, it's wonderfully paced. And at the centre of it all, it's this incredibly powerfull story about three guys coming together for one simple goal, mind their language.
That's what makes Kneecap so much better than pretty much every musician biopic. This film has an actual story and powerful message behind it. It's not just to put your voice out there, it's about preserving the voice of a people, as that voice can disapear if we don't bring attention to it. This obviously speaks to me as an Irish person. Even if I can't competently speak Irish, I still want it to do well, and the fact that this film directly fights the "dead language" allegations really means a lot.
It also does help that this premiered at Sundance.
The fact that The Academy chose Emilia Perez of this is just the dumbest thing ever.