Steve is chaotic and is a very real, very moving experience

5 out of 5

Director Tim Mielants' adaptation of Max Porter's novella was released in cinemas for a short spell but is streaming now on Netflix. It is not just a film; it is a real, visceral, and profoundly moving experience. Steve is a career-defining performance from Cillian Murphy, whose work here is nothing short of electrifying. He deserves another Oscar nod.

So, where are we? The film Steve is set over a single, chaotic day in a failing mid-nineties English reform school. The film, from teh get-go, plunges us into a world of institutional neglect and adolescent pain. Cillian Murphy plays the titular Steve, the weary but passionately devoted headteacher of Stanton Wood, a "last-chance" boarding school for troubled teenage boys. But Steve is fighting a battle on two fronts: the emotional, high-stakes chaos of his students, and the gnawing anxiety of his own mental health and a secret substance abuse problem covering a past trauma.

The film's genius lies in its relentless, documentary-like energy. The shaky-cam cinematography and jarring shifts, punctuated by a throbbing '90s soundtrack, perfectly convey the combustibility and chaos of the environment. Every corner of the decrepit school is a pressure cooker, with the threat of closure, a smarmy politician's visit, and a prying television crew all compounding the already monumental challenge of caring for these discarded young men.

Cillian Murphy's is the helpless helper, a man whose idealism has been bled dry but who refuses to give up. His physical weariness, the constant, haunted flicker in his eyes, and his tight-wire walk between mentor and man-on-the-edge are utterly captivating. This is not a performance that begs for sympathy; it simply lays a soul bare. He conveys the weight of institutional failure and male vulnerability with a subtle, heartbreaking grace, proving again why he is one of the most compelling actors working today.

While the film focuses keenly on its title character, it never loses sight of the boys he fights for, especially Shy (Jay Lycurgo), whose brilliant, mercurial presence embodies the film's core themes of pain and potential. Nice to see Tracy Ullman back on the big screen again too.

The movie's humane message—that every person, whether student or teacher, is simply a person helping (or hurting) another person—is simple yet profound, and delivered without the sugary sentimentality of lesser reform school dramas. Steve is an uncomfortable look at how society treats its most difficult boys and the devastating toll that work takes on those who try to save them. It’s an unflinching, authentic, and ultimately hopeful masterpiece. An absolute must-see.

Steve is streaming now on Netflix