Kneecap

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Honestly, this one didn't do it for me. Kneecap has received lots of praise from the festival and while there are some strong moments, the movie as a whole is pretty basic, thin characters, and the emotional connection isn't as strong as I would have liked.

Irish and the UK conflicts are interesting and the movie explores the musical duo Kneecap and the language conflicts between English and Irish. As a whole, the narrative does have some interesting concepts but it feels like a wannabe version of Trainspotting which causes the narrative to feel too thin and becomes really predictable. The soundtrack is pretty good and the performances from the cast members were solid, although didn't fully wow me. Michael Fassbender was good as usual.

The editing choices is pretty annoying. Many of the characters have some interesting traits but unfortunately, I didn't fully connect with them and I found most of the characters to be too thin and pretty annoying. Maybe it's because I am not Irish, I don't really have strong attachment to the character's purposes and the motivations.

The direction was okay and there are some clever humor dialogue moments. But also, some of the dialogue felt a bit forced. The camerawork was basic and I did enjoy some aspects about the movie but not on an emotional level.

Overall, I can see why it was well-received at Sundance but it wasn't for me.