TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Steve, written by Max Porter and directed by Tim Mielants, stars Cillian Murphy in the titular role as the head of a last-chance boys’ school set in the United Kingdom in the mid-90s. This is where the worst of the worst kids are sent when they have been expelled from other schools, are in danger of going to prison, and often have been rejected by their families. The kids regularly fight with each other, act out, and even assault their teachers.
Steve is trying to run the school on the most stressful day of its existence: a TV film crew has come to document what goes on there, while a Member of Parliament is visiting. Furthermore, the school is at risk of being shut down by the organization that funds it, and the boys are behaving at their worst. Steve has help from other teachers like Amanda (Tracey Ullman), Shola (Little Simz), and the school therapist, Jenny (Emma Watson), but each is having problems of their own.
Steve has a special fondness for one of the more sensitive students, Shy (Jay Lycurgo), who, like everyone else in the film, is his own worst enemy. Shy has more emotional intelligence than most of the boys, but he often retreats into his own world under headphones and a hoodie. When he’s provoked, his temper causes him to lash out at his friends, family, and Steve himself. Meanwhile, Steve is struggling with his own problems, and as the stress levels ratchet up, he turns to drugs and alcohol to try to cope.
“Steve is trying to run the school on the most stressful day of its existence…”
Porter adapted Steve from his novella Shy and changed the name to better reflect the greater focus on star Cillian Murphy. In fact, he was continuously writing new material throughout the casting process to adapt to the boys being considered for or selected for the roles. The casting of the film is incredible, with most of the boys being relative newcomers. All thoroughly exude such menace and roughness, but with an underlying vulnerability that their performances would be a triumph in the career of veteran actors.
It is no surprise that Murphy brings a warmth and generosity to his role as headmaster, but within a scene can whip over to tension and mania. In fact, the entire ensemble cast is outstanding in demanding roles. But the real find is Jay Lycurgo, who played the Tim Drake version of Robin in the HBO Max series Titans. His Shy is intelligent, charismatic, but flawed in a tragically beautiful way. I expect his career to take off after matching Cillian Murphy scene for scene in intensity and vulnerability.
The direction by Mielants is remarkable. He obviously has a rapport with Cillian Murphy, having worked with him on Small Things Like These and Peaky Blinders. Here, nearly every scene is filled with so much tension that you catch yourself with a white-knuckle hold on your seat. We get into some claustrophobic spaces and some dizzying fights. The camera flies around, even becoming inverted at some point. It all serves to put you in the mindset of everyone on screen, frazzled and frantic.
In fact, Steve is so intense that it is almost hard to watch. It isn’t that it is disturbing; it is that everyone has so much PTSD, and they are behaving so self-destructively, that you are desperate for them to stop. But that’s the dramatic core of the film, and the genius of it. It doesn’t wrap things up in a bow, but after such a frenzy, any human connection seems like deliverance.
Steve had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It has a limited theatrical release starting Sept. 19, and will stream on Netflix starting October 3.
"…so intense that it is almost hard to watch."
