Netflix’s movies – to me, anyway – always fall neatly into two categories. There are the big audience blockbusters, such as The Electric State, Carry-On, and the upcoming The Old Guard 2 and Happy Gilmore 2, and then there’s the prestige fare. Sometimes the two categories meet, such as with the Knives Out movies, but for the most part, they are distinct. As much as some of their blockbusters seem to vanish into the ether of streaming, they’ve also bankrolled some intriguing prestige fare that rank among the most acclaimed films of our era, such as Roma, Marriage Story, The Irishman, and many others. After a quiet 2024 that saw them throw all their eggs into the Emilia Perez basket, the streamer is back with a bumper crop of awards fare this year, including Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, and more.
Among them is a low-key English drama called Steve, which could – theoretically – pass under the radar were it not for the fact that it stars one of the most acclaimed actors of our time, Cillian Murphy. A newly minted Oscar-winner thanks to Oppenheimer, in this one, Murphy plays a teacher at a reform school trying to reach a difficult student. It’s getting a limited theatrical run in September and a Netflix bow in October, and it seems like a surefire selection for the Toronto International Film Festival.
Steve reunites Murphy with director Tim Mielants, who directed the little-seen (but excellent) Small Things Like These, which came out under the radar last fall. Written by Max Porter, whose book “Grief is the Thing with Feathers” was recently turned into the Benedict Cumberbatch drama The Thing With Feathers, it’s based on the novel “Shy”, also by Porter.
Here’s the official 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 (Academy Award® winner Cillian Murphy) 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 (Jay Lycurgo), 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.
The film co-stars Emily Watson and Tracy Ullman.
Steve premieres on Netflix on October 3rd. Here’s the first look image:
