Trailer for award-winning Kneecap film drops ahead of Irish release

The Irish-language movie will release in August.

The movie by the Belfast rap group picked up an audience award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival earlier in the year and has been highly anticipated by fans.

Based on the origin story of the Belfast-based hip-hop trio of the same, the film was the first Irish-language movie to be selected for the festival and premiered to rave reviews in January.

It currently holds a near perfect 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes and will release in Ireland on Thursday, August 8.

Trailer for award-winning Kneecap film drops ahead of Irish release

Kneecap won the audience award in the Next section of the Sundance festival, a strand devoted to championing “pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling”.

Its victory makes it the first Irish feature film to win at Sundance since Oscar-winner Once back in 2007.

Speaking about their win, the group said in a statement:

“We are delighted to have such an award bestowed upon the first Irish language film at Sundance. Hopefully it will give people in Ireland the confidence to pursue the arts through their native tongue. Special thanks to our PR team at the DUP.”

Described as a "raucous anti-establishment comedy", the movie stars Kneecap's Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí in their acting debuts, alongside Oscar-nominee Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby (Hidden Assets) and Josie Walker (The Wonder).

"Set in West Belfast in 2019, it chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to change the sound of Irish music forever," the plot synopsis reads.

🎬 OFFICIAL KNEECAP MOVIE TRAILER

“Every word of Irish spoken… is a bullet for Irish freedom” 💥

🎥 Coming to your local cinema across Ireland, Scotland, Wales & England 👇

🇮🇪: 8 August
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿: 23 August

🌎 rest…standby
🇮🇱 No movies ❌ pic.twitter.com/wg8wGq10FF

— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) June 6, 2024

Irish distributers Wildcard said in a statement earlier this month: "We can't wait for everyone to experience this once in a generation Irish film this summer.

"Kneecap has been universally loved by audiences all over the world and we are so excited to bring it home to the 32 counties of Ireland. Seo Linn!"

The film from director Rich Peppiatt is also set to open the 2024 Galway Film Fleadh in July and is included in JOE's list of the most exciting movies coming out this year.

Read more:

• Barry Keoghan reportedly lined up to play one of The Beatles in upcoming biopic
• Netflix reveals all of June’s new movies and series
• Netflix has just added one of 2023’s very best movies
• Disney+ has just added one of 2024’s most-anticipated movies
• Prime Video has just added one of 2023’s biggest movies