After the twinned successes of Peaky Blinders and Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy could have done anything. No pay cheque would be too large, no franchise off limits. Which makes it all the more impressive that, following Oscar glory, he has directed his efforts outside of Hollywood. Instead, he has recently produced and starred in two downbeat, personal Irish/British dramas: he starred in last year’s Small Things Like These and now the new release Steve, both directed by Tim Mielants and produced by Irish film producer Alan Moloney.
Steve is adapted from a 2023 novella by Max Porter, entitled Shy, which artfully navigates the inner monologue of a troubled teen named Shy. Porter, who also pens the screenplay, uses the film to broadly retell the same story of a single day at a last-chance reform school in mid-nineties England. However, the adaptation pivots from Shy (Jay Lycurgo) toward the titular Steve (Cillian Murphy), who acts as the head teacher of the embattled school. Complications pile up and tensions flare: Steve is running low on his medication, the students are constantly at war with one another, a television crew is producing an episode on the school, all while a bloviating local politician (Roger Allam) pays the school a rare visit. Meanwhile, the shadow of a threatened closure looms over the decrepit school building and the lost souls within. The film rests upon Steve’s world-weary shoulders: as personal and professional challenges accumulate, he is pushed to his breaking point.
The film is avowedly subjective, depicting not merely the events above, but rather Steve’s experiences of them; the camera rarely leaves him for long, while a further degree of subjectivity emerges as he mixes medication with alcohol. Mielants flirts with hallucinatory sequences here, but is careful to keep the film grounded.
These events may read as a lot of narrative – and there is a lot happening here – but the narrative covers such a wide cast of characters. The brevity of the runtime (clocking in around ninety minutes), coupled with the sheer number of pupils, staff, documentary crew and various visitors, means that Steve is an aptly named film: only Steve emerges as a fully realised character. However, this is a productive problem. As a vision of a man overwhelmed by professional responsibilities and personal challenges, it makes sense that the film is likewise overwhelmed by such a cast.
The cast are authentic and well measured in their performances: the students are not easy or immediately likeable young people, while the teachers are necessarily hardened. Jay Lycurgo is particularly strong, matching Murphy’s skittish energy and imbuing Shy with a series of compellingly contradictory qualities: Shy is kind and quiet, but conceals a deep well of rage toward his parents. The staff are likewise well portrayed and diverse: Emily Watson brings a tenderness to proceedings, Tracey Ullman a maternal toughness, and Little Simz, as a new teacher to the school, a nervous determination. However, when the film closes on a voiceover from Steve that reminisces on the individual virtues of each student, it rings a little hollow – these qualities are simply not shown on screen.
Technically impressive, Steve is often shot on handheld to achieve an off-the-cuff look that complements production designer Johnny Byrne’s striking work here. The school is dusty, crumbling, and nearly gothic, all of which is further augmented by stellar use of nineties dance music. These dated beats conjure a productive tension between the setting (a decrepit old mansion repurposed for school use) and the clublike energy of the music, which promises a release denied to these students. Cinematographer Robrecht Heywaert composes some smart, painterly images that serve to capture these frustrations, freedoms, and claustrophobia that define life at this school. A particularly striking moment involves Shy, outside, walking through Steve’s reflection, cast against a muggy window at dusk. It is an intelligent visual that concisely illustrates the similarities between the two characters.
In all, Steve is a worthy film. Anchored by a dependably compelling Cillian Murphy and supported by a committed cast, it delivers some of the year’s most artful moments of cinema.
Steve is in cinemas 19th September 2025.
