THE STORY – A headteacher at a reform school struggles to keep his students in line while dealing with his mental health.
THE CAST – Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo & Emily Watson
THE TEAM – Tim Mielants (Director) & Max Porter (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 92 Minutes
How would you describe yourself in three words? A documentary crew capturing raw footage for a news segment poses this question to their profile subjects: the staff and teenage students at Stanton Wood, an all-boys private reform school. The answers vary from jokey and crass to hopeful and depressing. For headteacher Steve (Cillian Murphy), his choice of words is “very, very tired.” Visibly exhausted and emotional, Steve has been pouring his heart and soul into helping as many troubled youth reach a light at the end of a chaotic tunnel. Echoes of anger, fragility, frustration, and care reverberate in the school halls.
Steve, one of the good eggs who sees the potential in these kids, nearly cracks beneath the weight of an underpaid, understaffed, under-resourced environment. Teachers play an incredibly crucial role in shaping the youth of today, giving so much of themselves to the profession. The sentiment is omnipresent in Tim Mielants’s inventive character study, “Steve,” a familiar teacher/student story told through a creatively stylized, unconventional lens. Mielants and Murphy, who brought us the indie gem “Small Things Like These” and television smash hit “Peaky Blinders,” continue to shine as a dynamic duo.
Based on the bestselling 2023 novella “Shy” by Max Porter, “Steve” follows one volcanic day at Stanton Wood, a broken-down reform school in mid–1990s England. Managed by a tireless group of overworked and underpaid colleagues, the school houses lost boys who have been bailed on and cast aside to the outskirts of society. Part radical intervention and part last resort, Stanton Wood gives the boys a consistently dedicated (albeit exhausted) support system to navigate destructive emotions and regain a sense of belonging. Steve (an excellent Murphy) leads the charge as a beacon of hope, a walking example of authentic care. But his inner demons are relentless, adding intensity and vulnerability to what is already a pressure cooker environment. While Steve often struggles to keep his composure in the company of colleagues and in his own solitude, he puts on a strong front for the students. Steve forms a particularly special bond with one of his students, Shy (Jay Lycurgo), self-described as “depressed, angry, and bored.” Their relationship bookends the film with notes of hopefulness as a response to despair.
The film’s screenwriter, Max Porter, structures the story over the course of one day. It’s an impactful creative decision that emphasizes the all-consuming nature of dedicating one’s livelihood to education. Adding to the core conflict, Mielants incorporates effective documentary-like interview footage of the teachers and students. Each gets asked questions related to how they feel about themselves, which gives the audience some compelling insight into the characters’ (mainly Steve’s and Shy’s) interior conflict. Mielants especially excels at conveying an immersive character study; placed immediately into the eye of the storm, Steve weathers an overlap of issues from systemic and newly developing. He tries his best to communicate with and help protect his students, while navigating heavy personal turmoil that his colleague Amanda (Tracey Ullman) can recognize from miles away.
Since starring in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Oppenheimer,” audiences have gotten to anticipate more lead roles for Cillian Murphy. His performance in 2024’s “Small Things Like These,” a 1980s story about a father who unearths the disturbing secrets of a local convent, was nothing short of riveting. Murphy gives another outstanding performance in “Steve.” He commands the screen with a frenetic and poignant portrayal, often conveying powerful devastation in a single glance. Though as compelling as Murphy is in the lead, the story’s structure skips over opportunities to focus on the students’ perspectives more. It’s a bit underwhelming, as their characters have layered qualities. Additionally, while effectively intense for the majority of its runtime, the film becomes dramatically overwrought in the final act. Thankfully, Mielants makes consistently inventive choices in the buildup, including an unexpected standout drone-heavy sequence.
It is so often the case that teachers are not just teachers. As fiercely depicted in “Steve,” teachers are also parents, friends, mentors, nurses, therapists, mediators, caregivers, and a kaleidoscope of roles crammed into one. They navigate the volcanic anger and vulnerability of their students while faced with insubstantial resources, mounting pressures, and peak levels of exhaustion. The open-hearted storytelling in “Steve” gives the audience a raw portrait of educators holding onto hope for the betterment of a failed system. Led by a remarkable Cillian Murphy and featuring a stellar supporting ensemble, “Steve” strikes an empathetic chord by placing mental health concerns at the forefront of discussion.
