Steve (dir. Tim Mielants)

by Jack Martin | Oct 1, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 92 mins

UK Distributor: Netflix

UK Release Date: 3 October 2025

WHO’S IN STEVE?

Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo, Emily Watson, Roger Allam, Douggie McMeekin, Youssef Kerkour, Marcus Garvey, Charles Beaven, Luke Ayres, Joshua J. Parker, Araloyin Oshunremi, Tut Nyuot, Tom Moya, Ahmed Ismail, Joshua Barry, Archie Fisher, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Priyanga Burford, George Fouracres, Ruby Ashbourne-Serkis

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Tim Mielants (director), Max Porter (writer), Alan Moloney and Cillian Murphy (producers), Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury (composers), Robrecht Heyvaert (cinematographer), Danielle Palmer (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

At a struggling reform school, a headteacher (Murphy) attempts to make it through the day…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON STEVE?

Thus far, the so-called “Oscar curse” which previously befell the careers of actors like Tatum O’Neal and F. Murray Abraham after winning their own Academy Awards hasn’t applied to Cillian Murphy. Despite his win for Oppenheimer, the Irish actor has largely resisted Hollywood’s higher calling (roles in the upcoming 28 Years Later sequels notwithstanding) and, through his new production company Big Things Films, has begun producing and starring in much smaller films that his newly certified Oscar-winner status can draw attention to.

His first film under Big Things Films was last year’s Small Things Like These, a quiet and intimate drama where he and director Tim Mielants found a soft-spoken rhythm that make for harrowing yet gentle viewing. But it is their second film together, Steve, which shows a significant leap in style, storytelling structure and even tone, and while it may not be as effective as their previous film, there’s still plenty here that proves why Murphy may yet evade that dreaded Oscar curse.

Not so much an adaptation but more a radical reimagining of Max Porter’s novel Shy (with the author also providing the film’s screenplay), the film sees Murphy play the titular Steve, the headmaster of a remote boarding school in 1996 that specialises in educating and caring for unruly youth who have proved to be too much to handle for the traditional education system. We follow Steve over the course of a particularly rough 24-hour period, where he and his woefully understaffed colleagues – among them deputy head Amanda (Tracey Ullman) and new teacher Shola (Simbi Ajikawo) – deal with a wide range of issues, from brutal fights breaking out among the volatile students, to sudden news about the school’s future, to an impromptu visit by Rogar Allam playing a deeply unpopular MP, to an increasingly invasive documentary crew capturing everyday life at the institution for a spotlight section on the news. Throughout all the mayhem, Steve is barely able to cling onto his sanity as his inner woes begin to cloud over him, a sentiment shared by Shy (Jay Lycurgo, previously seen in Last Swim earlier this year), one of his students who drops into a serious spiral after receiving some heartbreaking news of his own.

Very much unlike Small Things Like These, there is an unusually high energy that director Mielants brings here, which he incorporates into much faster-paced editing and fly-on-the-wall cinematography, as well as some highly innovative shots like an ambitious tracking shot later on that glides in and out of the school during pivotal character moments. All the while, he cranks the intensity up a few notches as the rambunctiousness of these out-of-control students barely leaves any room to catch one’s breath, with the camerawork constantly following them and their ill-equipped teachers throughout the hallways in ways that make it look life if the Safdie brothers directed Dead Poets Society. The borderline hyperactive style can make it stifling to watch as, much like Steve and the rest of the faculty, you’re constantly bombarded with shouting matches, physical and verbal assaults, and even the occasional fire alarm that pierces right through your ears, all as Mielants flaunts a filmmaking style that, while impressive in parts, ultimately distracts from the drama you’re meant to be focusing on the most.

Said drama is among the film’s stronger assets, as you certainly feel the utter anguish among not just Steve but also his fellow teachers and students as they all in their own way wrestle with the very real possibility that, despite their hard efforts and good intentions (among the staff, at least), there is no good outcome from this situation. The school itself is pretty much on its last legs by this point, the underfunded interiors of this rickety old mansion starting to show their age from all the wear and tear it’s accumulated over the years, yet it’s perhaps in a better condition than the handful of students and even less staff residing in it, many of whom are beyond help when it comes to keeping their emotions and anti-social behaviour in check (even Steve, our wannabe Mr. Chips, is a hardcore alcoholic). Whenever Porter’s script focuses on the dwindling nature of its characters, who are equally brought to life through exceptional performers that tap into the deepest, darkest parts of their roles – especially Murphy and Lycurgo, both of whom deliver some utterly haunting performances as two extremely vulnerable lost souls – the film can be incredibly moving.

But this is a film that ultimately favours its style over its substance, and that ends up hurting the film more than improving it. It’s not a bad style, and Mielants incorporates it fairly well into numerous scenes, but it is utilised in such a way that its flashy and overbearing nature makes it a lot tougher to absorb the story and its characters, and you end up feeling exhausted by the end rather than having your heart tugged at. You desperately want to know a lot of these people on a much deeper level than what is given, yet there’s little room to spare for further growth or extra dimensions to a lot of them, so by the end when it’s clearly guiding the viewer toward a bittersweet conclusion, there’s not really a moment where you feel as though it’s entirely earned.

However, it remains a perfectly watchable film in spite of its heavy flaws, largely thanks to Murphy whose post-Oscar career is no longer in doubt.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Steve is a heavily stylish drama that boasts a high-energy approach by director Tim Mielants which, while impressively integrated, often distracts from the harder-hitting drama and stellar performances by the likes of Cillian Murphy and Jay Lycurgo, both of which save it from succumbing to its flashy aesthetic.