This article first appeared on Reel Time with Richard.

Kneecap is a movie about Irish rappers who deliver their rhymes in their native Irish. As such, it can be a lot for American viewers to absorb, especially since it unfolds at a take-no-prisoners pace.

Once you get your bearings, though, writer/director Rich Peppiatt’s debut flick is a blast and a hoot.

The title refers to an actual Northern Ireland hip-hop band that took its name from the painful punishment often meted out by republican enforcers during the period of upheaval known as “The Troubles.” Set in 2019 or so, long after relative peace has arrived, the film purports to be the band’s origin story.

I say “purports” because Peppiatt’s clever script no doubt takes massive liberties with reality. If the story still has an air of authenticity, it’s partly because the band members all play themselves, and they do so with panache and conviction.

The trio’s founding members are Naoise O’Carrolean and Liam Og O’Hannaidh, lifelong friends who rap in their spare time but make their living selling drugs. The final member is JJ O’Dochartaigh, a bored music teacher who becomes involved with Naoise and Liam by pure chance.

But before that happens, a whirlwind prologue efficiently defines the characters and the divided society in which they live.

While Naoise is still a baby, his Catholic parents take him into the woods for a secret baptism ceremony, only to see it interrupted by a hovering military helicopter. Angry at the English- and Protestant-dominated government that he blames for curtailing his rights, the father, Arlo (Michael Fassbinder), becomes a republican activist and eventually fakes his own death to avoid being captured. This leaves Naoise virtually fatherless and forces his mother (Simone Kirby) to play the role of a grieving widow.

Liam is also affected, since Arlo has been a father figure to him. Like Naoise, he grows up into an angry young man who champions the Irish language as an act of rebellion.

Naoise O’Carrolean (left) has a rare meeting with his fugitive father, Arlo (Michael Fassbinder).

Meanwhile, JJ is plodding along, teaching students who don’t seem to be all that interested. When fate brings him into contact with two rappers who share his passion for music and the Irish language—and, it must be said, for drugs—he doesn’t need much prodding to join their band.

It’s a fascinating story, and writer/director Peppiatt tells it in an anarchic, wildly creative style that fits its subject. Watch for “sound waves” to be represented by squiggly lines, or for Irish rhymes to be translated in ever-changing fonts of lettering. And in one of several scenes of drug use, watch as the three hallucinating musicians suddenly morph into Claymation figures.

Raunchiness—in terms of language, nudity and sex—is another of the film’s defining elements. The sex scenes generally involve Liam and Georgia (Jessica Reynolds), the latest in a string of Protestant girlfriends. In an amusing twist, Liam always dates Protestant women because only they can stimulate the anger that apparently is needed to awaken his sex drive.

Though Kneecap takes on serious subjects, including the desire for Irish solidarity and the fight to make their native tongue an official language, the film seldom takes itself seriously. More often, it’s laugh-out-loud funny.

For a debut feature film—or any film, really—it’s quite an achievement.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Kneecap (rated R) opens Aug. 2 in theaters nationwide.