☰
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Saipan

Play trailer Saipan 2025 1h 31m Biography Drama History Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
93% Tomatometer 14 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
On the eve of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Irish captain Roy Keane forfeits his place in the squad at the team's preparation base in Saipan, following a heated disagreement with the Irish manager Mick McCarthy.

Critics Reviews

View More (14)
Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Co-directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn layer the melodrama with sly stylistic touches and clever cutaways. Rated: 4/5 Oct 15, 2025 Full Review Benjamin Lee Guardian At a game-length 91 minutes, Saipan smartly comes and goes with speed (for all of its anger, it’s also a breezy, funny time) but it’s the rare football movie that’s worth a replay. Rated: 4/5 Sep 8, 2025 Full Review Matthew Creith TheWrap “Saipan” is a reflection of power dynamics at a time when sports superstars represented a country’s standing in the world. Their celebrity egos often get the better of their wild ambitions. Sep 8, 2025 Full Review Emma Kiely Collider Saipan zeroes in on the clashing personalities that led to one of Ireland’s biggest modern controversies, resulting in a fascinating document of recent Irish history.. Rated: 8/10 Oct 19, 2025 Full Review Conor Pope Irish Times ...the story is as faithful to what happened as it can be and it is a quite brilliant retelling of a traumatic time in sporting history. Oct 17, 2025 Full Review Terence Johnson Le Noir Auteur This isn’t a movie that goes for easy answers and instead drops us into the maelstrom and asks the audience to decide for themselves. Sep 17, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

View All

Lisa Barros D'Sa

Director

Glenn Leyburn

Director

Steve Coogan

Actor

Eanna Hardwicke

Actor

Aoife Hinds

Actor

Harriet Cains

Actor
View All

Saipan

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis On the eve of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Irish captain Roy Keane forfeits his place in the squad at the team's preparation base in Saipan, following a heated disagreement with the Irish manager Mick McCarthy.
Director
Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Producer
Trevor Birney, Oliver Butler, Macdara Kelleher, John Keville
Screenwriter
Paul Fraser
Production Co
Wild Atlantic Pictures, Finepoint Films
Genre
Biography, Drama, History
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 31m