Steve Review: Cillian Murphy’s Netflix Drama Echoes Adolescence

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Steve employs several mindfulness practices to manage the pressures of his demanding job and worsening mental wellbeing. After dealing with challenging behavior from his students at the last-chance reform school, he finds a moment of peace by lying on the floor of the teachers’ lounge, simply listening to his colleagues during the morning meeting. Following a difficult class where students used inappropriate language towards him and each other, and reacted strongly to even subtle suggestions, he relieves back pain by rolling a tennis ball between his back and the chalkboard. Steve is deeply unhappy. Steve has reached his limit. In his own words, he’s “very, very tired.”

Belgian director Tim Mielants delves deeper into Steve’s struggles to reveal his kindness and desire to help these challenging young boys in the new Netflix series. This marks the third time Murphy has worked with Mielants, following previous projects and the 2024 film Small Things Like These. Murphy and Mielants have developed a strong working relationship, consistently delivering impactful stories from simple premises. With Steve, they explore the realities of working within a school dedicated to helping troubled boys, all unfolding over a single day. The series is both an exposé of the difficult experiences of emotionally vulnerable children and those who care for them, and a character study that allows Murphy to showcase his sincerity. Steve delivers a powerful and honest impact, leaving a lasting impression with its moving conclusion.

Troubled Students and Teachers Grapple With the System Abandoning Them in Steve

The film unfolds over a single day, showing what life is like for the staff and students at Stanton Wood school. The film crew finds the boys’ violent behavior and the teachers’ failing attempts to manage it somewhat amusing. When the boys notice the crew filming outside, they gather at the windows and deliberately make rude gestures to get attention. The camera operator quickly films this, and the reporter even enters one of the boys’ rooms without asking, and goes through his belongings. Meanwhile, Sir Hugh Montague Powell visits the school briefly as part of his campaign, simply to fulfill an obligation for his charitable work.

Even when students are struggling, Meilants responds with kindness. People outside the school are portrayed as being only interested in sensationalism – the news program and Powell don’t seem to care about the students’ well-being, dismissing them as future criminals who are beyond help. This approach powerfully highlights the tragedy not just for the students, but also for the exhausted teachers. The school is severely understaffed and faces possible closure, which would likely leave many of these children homeless. Steve at Murphy leads a small, overworked team, with Amanda (played by the delightfully dramatic Tracey Ullman), a new teacher named Shola (Simbi Ajikawo), and therapist Jenny (Emily Watson, who is underused but always impactful) being key figures.

It’s understandable that the female staff members receive almost as much focus as Steve. Unfortunately, sexually suggestive and disrespectful language is common among the students, and the staff seem unwilling to address it. Their priority is preventing physical altercations between the boys. The staff only intervene when a student directs an overtly sexual comment towards Shola, who is visibly upset. The female teachers are facing risks that their male colleagues don’t have to consider. Steve powerfully conveys this idea through subtle storytelling and the actresses’ compelling performances. However, could the film have explored this particular storyline in more detail? Certainly.

Steve Is an Inadequate Title for the Complex Story

Steve frequently struggles with indecision, often saving his most compelling concepts for less important details. A prime illustration of this is the alteration of the main character from the source material, a novella called Shy by Max Porter, who also wrote the screenplay. The novella centers around the main character, a difficult teenager going to school. Shy also features in the film as a secondary character, powerfully portrayed by Jay Lycurgo. Murphy and Porter had collaborated on two previous projects, suggesting they aimed to build on that successful relationship and enhance the film.

Presenting the film through Steve’s experiences highlights important themes, such as the challenges of caregiving, Steve’s struggles with substance abuse, and the deep affection teachers feel for their students. Murphy excels at portraying characters who suffer in silence, making every scene where Steve is verbally abused or treated cruelly particularly heartbreaking. The film then shifts to Shy’s viewpoint during his time at Stanton Wood, and that’s when the story becomes even more disturbing than viewers might expect.

Shy is, without a doubt, Steve’s most favored student. The film doesn’t shy away from showing why he’s special. Shy is intelligent, creative, and emotionally aware, and he generally avoids getting caught up in the drama of his classmates. He’s likely the only student grappling with remorse over past errors, which sadly caused his mother and stepfather to cut him off – a painfully difficult moment that marks the beginning of Shy’s struggle with depression. Shy provides the most relatable window into the students’ inner lives (although he doesn’t speak for everyone). Viewers naturally want him to succeed, not only because he has the ability to improve his situation, but also because he reflects Steve’s own struggles. The film introduces Shy to the audience first in the opening scene for a reason: he doesn’t initially appear to be a troubled teenager sitting on the lawn, smoking weed and listening to music; he simply seems like a typical adolescent. Conversely, the film deliberately conceals the fact that Steve uses drugs and alcohol to cope with his own problems.

The way both characters mirror each other creates a comforting image of men who have neglected their own well-being in order to maintain a composed exterior. The striking resemblances in their internal struggles demonstrate that the challenges faced by middle-aged individuals aren’t vastly different from those experienced by teenagers. However, the film focuses so heavily on Shy that it’s confusing why it wasn’t simply named Steve and Shy. The shift in name and central character-from a Black teenager to a white teacher-while Shy remains a key focus, carries a racial undertone. Furthermore, the film’s discussion of race feels underdeveloped; it’s used as a way to show social awareness but isn’t truly investigated, even after a significant conflict occurs.

Steve Takes Note From Past TV Standouts

As a viewer, I think Steve will really resonate with those who loved The Bear. It shares that same energetic, in-your-face filming style and tackles tough subjects with a similar sensitivity, but this time focusing on teenagers. The story is set in 1996, but honestly, the issues it brings up feel incredibly current – maybe even *more* relevant today. Back then, they didn’t have to worry about social media amplifying everything, which makes you imagine how much worse things could be for these kids now. Adding the difficult topic of suicide gives the film a real sense of urgency, pushing the characters to find a way forward and address the uncertainty facing their school. Thankfully, the movie avoids falling into predictable tropes. Instead, it uses the darkness of a student’s struggles to ultimately find a genuinely heartwarming message. It’s a powerful combination that really works.

The film’s direction and cinematography really bring these moments to life. It mostly alternates between footage that looks like old VHS documentaries and a more personal, fly-on-the-wall view of what happens when the cameras aren’t rolling. This allows us, the audience, to see a fascinating contrast: how the characters act when they’re around others – often sharing their deepest hopes and fears – and the things they hide, feeling too embarrassed to reveal. Cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert enhances this by filming scenes as if we’re seeing things through a student’s eyes – dodging obstacles in the cafeteria, getting bumped by things, and feeling the chaos of crowded hallways. But when the film needs quiet moments, the camera subtly fades away. It’s just us and the person struggling, left to experience their pain in a raw and undisturbed way.

Heyvaert and Mielants create a compelling visual experience in the film’s third act, showing a character’s descent into despair. However, a hint of optimism prevents the movie from being simply a bleak and shocking display. A heartfelt scene, voiced by Steve, highlights the good qualities of the teenage boys. He sincerely compliments each one, demonstrating his commitment to truly knowing them. While it would have been good to see these traits reflected in the characters themselves, the monologue elevates the film beyond a basic portrayal of the social and political difficulties faced by troubled young people and their educators. Both the kids and those who are trying to help them could thrive, if the system would just offer some support.

Steve premieres in select theaters on September 19 and streams on Netflix on October 3.

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2025-10-03 01:51