Steve

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1:29

Steve

R

2025

1h 33m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

94 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Set in the mid-90s, Steve is a reimagining of Max Porter's Sunday Times bestseller Shy. The film follows a pivotal day in the life of headteacher Steve and his students at a last-chance reform school amidst a world that has forsaken them. As Steve fights to protect the school's integrity and impending closure, we witness him grappling with his own mental health. In parallel to Steve's struggles, we meet Shy, a troubled teen caught between his past and what lies ahead as he tries to reconcile his inner fragility with his impulse for self-destruction and violence.

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Critics Consensus

A sobering drama that throws everything along with the kitchen sink at its doggedly determined hero, Steve's pileup of crises can strain credulity but Cillian Murphy's superb performance keeps it grounded in reality.

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Craig Mathieson

The Age (Australia)

Oct 16, 2025

3/5

[Cillian Murphy's] turmoil is magnetic, but the storytelling can be explanatory and sometimes the overt technique of Belgian director Tim Mielants (Small Things Like These) is skilful but distancing.

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Robert Levin

Newsday

Oct 7, 2025

3/4

Most importantly, the movie approaches the stories of these people and their challenging mission with a big, open heart, with the compassion necessary to see the value in the teens' lives instead of simply sweeping them away.

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David Fear

Rolling Stone

Oct 3, 2025

It’s handled in such a slapdash, klutzy manner, and feels so cut-rate, that you may find yourself raging alongside the movie’s youngsters. Not even Murphy can sell it.

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Thomas Caffrey

Film Ireland Magazine

Nov 14, 2025

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.

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Matthew St. Clair

Cinematic Words of a Chaotic Gemini (Substack)

Oct 30, 2025

B

The acting along with its messaging on the importance of teen mental health and feeling less alone, which especially hits home during the climax, make Steve an affecting-enough drama.

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Lisa Trifone

Third Coast Review

Oct 24, 2025

3/4

The film is at its most heartbreaking when Steve and the young men in his charge are given space to be vulnerable, something that doesn't come naturally to any of them.

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Ghederick Eshmont

Sep 30, 2025

Cillian Murphy is the preeminent actor working these days & his partnership with Tim Mielants is producing some pitch black, beautiful films

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Zainab M

@RT84753918 Aug 13, 2026

Cillian Murphy’s performance in Steve is poweful. You can feel the anxiety almost immediately—the tension is palpable from the very beginning. There’s a sense of chaos that carries through to the end, and you genuinely feel as though you’re inside the school, surrounded by troubled adolescents, troubled teachers, and a troubled headmaster. The film captures that environment in a way that feels intensely immersive and unsettling.

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Marco L

@decatur555 Aug 6, 2026

Steve is a powerful, tense and deeply compassionate drama led by a magnificent Cillian Murphy. He plays the exhausted head of a school for troubled young men, trying to keep the students, staff and institution together while he is barely holding himself together. The film avoids the usual inspirational-teacher clichés: Steve has no perfect speeches or easy solutions, and the boys do not change overnight. Jay Lycurgo is equally impressive as a volatile young man whose anger hides fear, abandonment and a desperate need for someone not to give up on him. The supporting characters feel real, the screenplay is strong and the constant chaos gives the film enormous tension. A wonderful story about education, mental health and the people who sacrifice themselves trying to save others.

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Michael K

@mk88s Jul 25, 2026

Plausible and true to itself throughout. The cast is outstanding. Touches on complex issues without preaching or judgment.

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Steve O

@olshewsky Jul 23, 2026

Tragedy! Artful use of a forgotten genre [spoiler alert] beauty is hidden (like "the whole, bleak, terrible truth of the universe," quoth the movie)

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Dylan K

@dylank Jul 19, 2026

So incredible and moving, one of the best movies on mental health and adolescent depression. Kind of shocking to see this wasn't higher rated but I guess it's not for everyone. Still recommend anyone to watch it and if you get it, you will love it.

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Synopsis

Set in the mid-90s, Steve is a reimagining of Max Porter's Sunday Times bestseller Shy. The film follows a pivotal day in the life of headteacher Steve and his students at a last-chance reform school amidst a world that has forsaken them. As Steve fights to protect the school's integrity and impending closure, we witness him grappling with his own mental health. In parallel to Steve's struggles, we meet Shy, a troubled teen caught between his past and what lies ahead as he tries to reconcile his inner fragility with his impulse for self-destruction and violence.

Director: Tim Mielants
Producer: Cillian Murphy, Alan Moloney, Tina Pawlik
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Netflix, Big Things Films
Rating: R (Substance Abuse|Some Sexual Material|Pervasive Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 3, 2025
Runtime: 1h 33m

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