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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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Michael K

@mk88s 5d

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

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

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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Calvin M.

@LazersInMotion Jun 22

Meh…. Good acting, but flawed story.

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Linda L

@RT23360853 Jun 3

Brilliant film. Subtle yet resounding complexity, gracefully woven into confronting themes. The burdens of one’s nature/capacity to inhibit damaging urges, cares not for hierarchy or authority. The sense of pressure and relentless tension seamlessly allows viewers to be somehow connected enough to grasp the unfathomable, omnipresent intricacies. Distinctions of class, opportunity, and privilege, highlight brutal costs to the disenfranchised. Without seeming trite, the unflinching, raw characterisations are undemanding, enabling audiences to comprehend colossal tragedies. Any fundamental distinctions between ‘adults and children’ are stripped back and we observe the multitude of costs associated with isolation, rejection, vulnerability and love. The burden of knowledge, hope and compassion, and the act of existing as a flawed, reflective, destructive, self aware person, invites contemplation of the need for connection and kin, and leaves us with a beautiful, lingering sense of meaning.

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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