Remember that film “Kneecap” from last year? It was an unconventional biopic based on the Irish-language hip-hop trio of the same name. Directed by Rich Peppiatt, it premiered in the NEXT section at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. It has also collected numerous nominations and awards, including a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut.
Peppiatt has now set up his sophomore effort, which will star Daisy Edgar-Jones and Emilia Jones (“CODA”). It’s being described as a “period revenge thriller.” The project is far enough along that it has Oscar-winning production designer James Price (“Poor Things”) and costume designer Kate Hawley (“Crimson Peak”) on board. The film is eyeing a shoot in Northern Ireland and Ireland in spring 2026.
The screenplay takes its cue from “Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem, and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women” by Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick, and was shaped with guidance from Queen’s University Belfast. Farrell and McCormick’s research uncovers the world of “Bad Bridgets” — Irish immigrant women labeled unruly or criminal, including a period when more Irish women than men were imprisoned, sometimes for offenses as vague as “stubbornness.
The story opens with a mysterious letter that propels a young woman from hunger-stricken Ireland to 19th-century New York, where she becomes part of the notorious community of Irish Bridgets raising havoc across the city
“Kneecap” set a BAFTA record as the most-nominated debut film ever, and also amassed an impressive haul on the awards circuit, earning seven British Independent Film Awards, five IFTAs, and the breakthrough British/Irish filmmaker honor from the London Critics’ Circle.