Drama, History  •  2025  •  91 min  •  Adults (18+)

Saipan (2025)

Saipan poster

Saipan (2025)


Rating & Dimensions

Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Leans Traditional
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Family Values: Mixed

Viewer Rating
7.3

Overview

Saipan dramatizes one of Irish football's most talked-about moments: Roy Keane walking out on the Republic of Ireland squad days before the 2002 World Cup, after a blowup with manager Mick McCarthy. The film is a workplace conflict story built around masculinity, professional standards, and national pride, with flaws distributed on both sides. The Leans Traditional label follows from the content, not any ideological agenda. The drama centers on two men holding firm to their principles in a culture where hierarchy and team loyalty carry serious weight. There are no identity politics, no revisionist framing. It is a story about old-fashioned stubbornness dressed in football boots, and it does not pretend otherwise.


Starring Cast

Éanna Hardwicke  •   Steve Coogan  •   Peter McDonald


Where to watch

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Detailed Bias Analysis

Analyzing...
Leans Traditional

Primary

Political: Center
Confidence: High

The film dramatizes the 2002 Saipan incident as a neutral workplace drama centered on the personal and professional clash between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy, portraying flaws on both sides without advancing any ideological agenda.

Diversity: Low
Confidence: High

The movie is a straightforward historical drama about a real-life clash between two white male figures in Irish football, with casting that matches the historical record and a narrative focused on personal and professional conflict rather than identity-based critique.

Secondary

Family Values: Mixed
Confidence: High

The film centers on the professional clash between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy during the 2002 World Cup preparations, with family elements limited to brief, peripheral phone calls in which the wives offer calm advice. This incidental depiction of marriage results in a neutral rating with no meaningful exploration of family structures or norms.

LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: Low

The film dramatizes a real 2002 clash of egos and standards between Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy, centering on themes of national identity, masculinity, and workplace conflict among straight male football figures.

Trans: N/A
Confidence: Low

The film dramatizes the 2002 Saipan incident, a clash between Irish football captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy ahead of the World Cup. No transgender characters or themes appear in the plot, cast, or narrative.

Female Combat: N/R

The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.

Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High

The film dramatizes the real 2002 Saipan incident between historical figures Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy. Both are male and portrayed by male actors Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan respectively, with no documented gender changes to any named characters.

Race Swap: No
Confidence: Low

The film is a dramatization of the real 2002 Saipan incident involving white Irish football figures Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy, portrayed by white Irish actors Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan with no mismatches to historical racial baselines.

Hinduism: N/A
Confidence: Low

Not depicted in the film.


Viewer Rating Breakdown

7.3

Viewer Rating

Combines user and critic ratings from four sources

User Ratings

IMDB logo
6.8
The Movie Database logo
6.2

Critic Ratings

Rotten Tomatoes logo
9.3
Metacritic logo
6.8

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